Composition and Film Properties of Temperature Responsive,Hydrophobically Modified Potato Starch

The film‐forming properties of hydrophobically modified potato starch were studied to optimize coating and surface sizing formulations for improvement of barrier properties of paper and paperboard. The spontaneous fractionation of a potato starch hydrophobically modified with a quaternary dodecylammonium chloride resulted in an amylose‐rich precipitate with properties differing from those of the original starch. Film formation was investigated in the presence of glycerol and poly(vinyl alcohol) plasticizers. Anti‐plasticization was found to occur at low and intermediate plasticizer levels but highly flexible, continuous films were obtained when 30 parts of plasticizer were added to 100 parts of dry starch. The highest transparency and greatest flexibility were obtained with glycerol, while the hydrophobic film properties were maintained with poly(vinyl alcohol). A study of the glass transition temperatures and melting behavior of starch‐plasticizer films by differential scanning calorimetry gave useful information about the crystallinity of the films.