Bioinspired approach to enhance mechanical properties of starch based nacre-mimetic nanocomposite

In this work, a facile biomimetic method was proposed to enhance the interfacial adhesion between layered clay and polymer matrix inspired by strong adhesion of mussel adhesive proteins. Montmorillonite (MMT) was coated with a thin layer of polydopamine (PDA) through self-polymerization of dopamine (DA) and subsequently assembled with corn starch (CS) to generate CS/MMT-DA nanocomposite. FTIR, XPS, SEM and XRD results demonstrated that PDA coating benefited not only the intercalation and dispersion of the modified MMT (MMT-DA) in the polymer matrix but also the strong interfacial adhesion between filler and matrix. The tensile strength of CS/MMT-DA nanocomposites was largely enhanced by increasing the amount of DA or polymerization time. This work can largely expand the application of MMT and provide a new idea for preparing high performance starch nanocomposites.