Thermo-mechanical processing of sugar beet pulp. III. Study of extruded films improvement with various plasticizers and cross-linkers.

Thermoplastic sugar beet pulp (thermo-mechanical processing was discussed in previous studies) was formed into film strips by extrusion. Film tensile properties are discussed according to the molecular structure of external plasticizer. Sorbitol, fructose and adipic acid have a marked antiplasticizing effect, while urea and xylitol gave higher ultimate tensile stress than glycerol for a comparable strain at break. Xylitol can be considered as the best plasticizer with UTS and EL of, respectively, 4.9 MPa and 11.3% and water absorption (85% RH, 25 degrees C) was less than 25%. Glycidyl methacrylate was directly used in the extrusion process as cross-linker. In high humidity atmosphere (97% RH, 25 degrees C), film water absorption was then kept under 40% while tensile strength and strain were improved of 50% and with a 30 min UV post-treatment the mass gain in absorption was even less than 30% after 5 days.