On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay

Kazantzi, Eleni; Christou, Melpomeni; Frangopoulos, Theofilos; Marinopoulou, Anna; Goulas, Athanasios; Petridis, Dimitrios; Karageorgiou, Vassilis

doi:10.3390/app152011166

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On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay

by

Eleni Kazantzi

^†,

Melpomeni Christou

^†,

Theofilos Frangopoulos

,

Anna Marinopoulou

,

Athanasios Goulas

,

Dimitrios Petridis

^*

and

Vassilis Karageorgiou

^*

Department of Food Science and Technology, International Hellenic University, P.O. Box 141, 57400 Thessaloniki, Greece

^*

Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed equally to this work.

Appl. Sci. 2025, 15(20), 11166; https://doi.org/10.3390/app152011166

Submission received: 10 September 2025 / Revised: 15 October 2025 / Accepted: 17 October 2025 / Published: 17 October 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Design, Characterization, and Applications of Biodegradable Polymers)

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Abstract

Although the strain hardening phenomenon has been studied in different types of materials, there are only a few such reports regarding flexible food packaging. To address this issue, nanoclay-reinforced and control starch-based films were subjected to sequential and weekly tension and the rheological index, defined as the ratio of the tensile strength observed under weekly to that under consecutive elongation, was measured. The results showed that the values of the rheological index were >1, implying a strain hardening effect that was more notable when nanoclay was added and when the stress duration was increased. Additionally, a cumulative damage test was conducted, involving the gradual increase of two factors in each step: the percentage of the elongation level and the duration of each step. The data were fitted to a linear model, describing the correlation between the ln failure time (μ) and the tensile strength (X), μ = 6.021 − 0.478 X. This model enabled the prediction of the failure probability and the hazard rate of the films that were studied. In addition, from the survival of the units in the initial steps of the cumulative damage experiment, it can be hypothesized that the elongation of the units under low stress levels, for prolonged periods of time, exhibits rheological memory properties, which leads to an increase in their mechanical strength.

Keywords: starch biodegradable films; nanoclay; rheological memory; strain hardening; cumulative

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MDPI and ACS Style

Kazantzi, E.; Christou, M.; Frangopoulos, T.; Marinopoulou, A.; Goulas, A.; Petridis, D.; Karageorgiou, V. On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay. Appl. Sci. 2025, 15, 11166. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152011166

AMA Style

Kazantzi E, Christou M, Frangopoulos T, Marinopoulou A, Goulas A, Petridis D, Karageorgiou V. On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay. Applied Sciences. 2025; 15(20):11166. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152011166

Chicago/Turabian Style

Kazantzi, Eleni, Melpomeni Christou, Theofilos Frangopoulos, Anna Marinopoulou, Athanasios Goulas, Dimitrios Petridis, and Vassilis Karageorgiou. 2025. "On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay" Applied Sciences 15, no. 20: 11166. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152011166

APA Style

Kazantzi, E., Christou, M., Frangopoulos, T., Marinopoulou, A., Goulas, A., Petridis, D., & Karageorgiou, V. (2025). On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay. Applied Sciences, 15(20), 11166. https://doi.org/10.3390/app152011166

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On the Rheological Memory and Cumulative Damage of Thermoplastic Starch Biodegradable Films Reinforced with Nanoclay

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