Achievement of Starch Fiberization Technology

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1) A laboratory-scale apparatus for producing starch fiber was manufactured. This is an apinner which extrudes aqueous starch solution into ca. 40% ammonium sulfate solution by air-pressure. The nozzle diameter was designed to vary from 0.1 to 0.4 mm. Starch fibers were able to be prepared in good reproducibility using this apparatus.2) Preparing conditions for starch fibers were examined in terms of shapes of starch fibers thus obtained. Corn starch gave better fibers than potato starch, although potato starch had higher solubility in hot water. This difference in fiberization behavior and solubility must be due to ratios of amylose and amylopectin in these starch samples. The optimum conditions for starch content in solutions and the nozzle diameter of the apparatus were 10% and 0.4mm, respectively. Further experiments for preparing blend fibers with starch and either other water-soluble polymers or fillers will be carried out in near future to improve characteristics of starch fibers.3) Fundamental properties of handsheets containing 0-40% starch fibers were studied. Although sizing and optical properties of the handsheets fell down to some extent by the addition of the starch fibers, mechanical properties were extremely improved by reinforcing interfiber bonds in handsheets with starch fibers. Accelerated aging tests revealed that deterioration due to acidity of acidic handsheets was prevented to some extent by the addition of starch fibers into handsheets.