Thermal and surface characterization of plasticized starch polyvinyl alcohol blends crosslinked with epichlorohydrin

Starch‐polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) blends in 2:8 wt % were prepared with various plasticizers such as polyethylene glycol (PEG‐200, PEG‐400) and glycerol. The crosslinking of starch‐PVA blends by epichlorohydrin was carried out in the presence of a plasticizer in situ. The obtained films were analyzed by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical and thermal analysis (DMTA), and X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and remarkable changes in thermal stability and glass‐transition temperature have been observed on plasticizing and crosslinking in different concentrations. Different kinetic models such as Coats–Redfern, Broido, Friedman, and Chang were used to calculate the kinetic parameters of thermal decomposition. The results suggest that the thermal stability and activation energy of thermal decomposition passes through maxima at a critical concentration of plasticizer and increases with increasing crosslinker concentration. High‐resolution C 1s XPS analysis was used to provide a method of differentiating the presence of various carbons associated with different environment in the films. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 25–34, 2006