title: Development and characterization of thermoplastic films from sorghum distillers dried grains grafted with various methacrylates.
abstract: Distillers Dried Grains (DDG) obtained during production of ethanol from grain sorghum were grafted with methacrylates and compression molded into films with good dry and wet tensile properties. Since sorghum DDG contains up to 45% proteins that are indigestible by animals, it is necessary to find alternative applications to make sorghum ethanol economically competitive. In this research, sorghum DDG was grafted with methyl, ethyl, and butyl methacrylates, the grafted DDG was compression molded into films, and the properties of the grafted DDG and films were studied. At a grafting ratio of 40%, butyl methacrylate (BMA) grafted films had a strength of 4.8 MPa and elongation of 1.8% when dry and 3.1 MPa and 8.1% when wet, indicating that the films had good strength and wet stability. Films developed from grafted DDG show the potential to overcome the brittleness and poor water stability of biopolymer-based films and be useful for various applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Textiles, Merchandising & Fashion Design, 234 HECO Building, East Campus, University of Nebraska-Lincoln , Lincoln, Nebraska 68583-0803, United States.
authors.forename: Narendra
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Temme
authors.forename: Helan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Lan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Xiuliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.forename: Yiqi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D001709:Biotechnology / Q000379:methods*; D008689:Methacrylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D010969:Plastics / Q000737:chemistry*; D045868:Sorghum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014866:Waste Products / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D008689:Methacrylates; D010969:Plastics; D014866:Waste Products