Structure and properties of tough starch modified with rubber-based polyurethane microparticles

We prepared a novel covalent rubber-based polyurethane/starch composites material via a simple and effective method. Infrared, scanning electron microscopic, and mechanical tests demonstrated that polyurethane microparticles showed good compatibility with starch as the polyurethane content increases. This is mainly because of the urethane bond newly formed by –OH in starch and –NCO in rubber-based polyurethane. And when the rubber-based polyurethane content increased from 20% to 30%, its elongation at break improved by 116.9%. CPB30 showed excellent hydrophobicity and toughness, which showed potential application.