Effects of film forming and hydrophobic properties of starches on surface sized packaging paper

The effect on mechanical and barrier properties upon addition of glycerol to temperature‐responsive hydrophobically modified (HM) potato starch was studied on free films. The addition of glycerol lowered the glass transition temperature, the storage modulus, and the water vapor permeability (WVP) for the HM starch films. The HM starch phase separates upon cooling below an upper critical temperature into a solid and a liquid phase. Adding glycerol to the warm starch solution had an inhibiting effect on the particulate precipitation. Substrates surface sized with HM starch with various amounts of glycerol were investigated with respect to barrier properties; WVP, contact angle and Cobb values. Hydroxypropylated starch was used as a reference. Cobb values and WVP results on surface‐sized substrates indicated that the film formation properties of the starches were of great importance for the final surface properties. Good film formation properties were essential for the gas barrier and water resistance while they were less important for high contact angles. The WVP decreased as the glycerol content of the sizes increased, but no sufficient water vapor barrier could be obtained. The HM starches investigated in this work provided good oxygen barrier and the contact angles indicated a hydrophobic character of the surface. The role of the precipitate was investigated, and surface sizing with the precipitate gave low WVP and high contact angles despite its poor film‐forming properties under the experimental conditions. Cobb60 values were slightly improved for HM starch with increasing glycerol content over glycerol‐free sizing. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.