CRYSTALLINE STARCH CITRATE BIOPOLYMER NANORODS AS POTENTIAL STABILIZERS IN NANO AND MICRO EMULSIONS

The area of green chemistry which involves the synthesis of biodegradable polymers with better stabilizing properties is fast-developing. Starch biopolymer was citrate modified and converted to crystalline nanorods through green methods and was fully characterized using the fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction studies (XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The crystalline starch citrate showed better morphological and thermal stability properties than the ordinary and modified normal starch which has not been converted to nano form. The starch citrate nanoparticle showed characteristic bragg reflection angles at 2θ of 24°, 29° and 33° while the TGA result revealed a single step thermal degradation at 240 to 410 °C and percentage weight loss of about 89%. The SEM and TEM also confirmed the synthesis of rod-like or cylindrical nanoparticles with little or no aggregation. This property coupled with the thermal stability makes starch citrate nanoparticles a good stabilizer for nano and micro emulsions.