Abstract

This is, to our knowledge, the first study of the injection molding of materials where wheat gluten (WG) is the main component. In addition to a plasticizer (glycerol), 5 wt.% natural montmorillonite clay was added. X-ray indicated intercalated clay and transmission electron microscopy indicated locally good clay platelet dispersion. Prior to feeding into the injection molder, the material was first compression molded into plates and pelletized. The filling of the circular mold via the central gate was characterized by a divergent flow yielding, in general, a stronger and stiffer material in the circumferential direction. It was observed that 20-30 wt.% glycerol yielded the best combination of processability and mechanical properties. The clay yielded improved processability, plate homogeneity and tensile stiffness. IR spectroscopy and protein solubility indicated that the injection molding process yielded a highly aggregated structure. The overall conclusion was that injection molding is a very promising method for producing WG objects. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Injection molding; Nanocomposites; Wheat gluten; Montmorillonite; Mechanical properties

Published in

International Journal of Biological Macromolecules
2011, Volume: 48, number: 1, pages: 146-152
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Johansson, Eva

  • Department of Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Other Materials Engineering


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2010.10.012

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/47226