High‐performance starch/clay bionanocomposite for textile warp sizing

In this study, an oxidized starch (OS)/montmorillonite (MMT) nanocomposite was prepared via a solution intercalation method. Before incorporating MMT into OS, MMT was organically modified with 20 wt% of octadecyl dimethyl tertiary amine followed by a hydrophilic ball‐milling treatment in the presence of urea, ethanol, and formaldehyde (two‐step processing technique). X‐ray diffraction revealed that the interlayer spacing of the MMT expanded from 1.29 to 2.00 nm after the organic modification and MMT turned into an exfoliated state after the hydrophilic treatment and the solution intercalation, which was also confirmed by transmission electron microscope result. Owing to the interaction between OS and the silicate layers, the hygroscopicity of the obtained nanocomposite decreased and the mechanical properties were improved. Our work demonstrates that the two‐step processing technique is a promising method for modifying MMT nanofillers and preparing starch/MMT nanocomposites, which paves a way for preparing other polar polymer‐based nanocomposites and developing environment‐friendly textile sizing materials. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:E441–E447, 2018. © 2017 Society of Plastics Engineers