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The paper reports the results of studies on the effect of glycerol content on thermal, mechanical, and dynamic mechanical properties of blends of starch and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). Degree of crystallinity of the starch/ PVA blends (4 g/4 g ratio) remains almost constant up to 3.78 g of glycerol as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and x-ray diffraction studies. At higher loading of glycerol the crystallinity decreases. DTG thermograms revealed occurring of one maximum degradation temperature closer to that of starch in blends containing up to 3.78 g of glycerol. At higher glycerol content there gradually occur two distinct peaks of maximum degradation temperature, one occurring close to that of starch and other occurring close to the PVA peak, indicating phase separation of the blend components. Results of stress-strain studies indicate lowering of tensile properties and energy at break particularly at higher glycerol content (beyond 3.78 g). Dynamic mechanical studies reveal a sharp drop in dynamic modulus at higher glycerol content at all temperatures. The blend with low glycerol content shows transitions of starch, while the blend containing high glycerol content beyond 3.78 g display the transitions due to both starch and PVA.

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Ground rubber tire (GRT) is a particulate vulcanizate consisting mainly of rubber hydrocarbon and fillers. Rubber hydrocarbon of GRT (rGRT) has been used as a partial substitute for EPDM rubber in a dynamically vulcanized EPDM/acrylic‐modified HDPE (A‐HDPE) blend. The blends with higher rubber content show poor processability and physical properties, while the compositions with higher plastic content behave like toughened plastics. However, the 60:40 rubber/plastic blend was found to behave as a thermoplastic elastomer, and it was observed that 50% of EPDM can be replaced by rGRT without deterioration in properties.

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Polymer nanocomposites based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/starch blend and graphene were prepared by solution mixing and casting. Glycerol was used as a plasticizer and added in the starch dispersion. The uniform dispersion of graphene in water was achieved by using an Ultrasonicator Probe. The composites were characterized by FTIR, tensile properties, X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis, and FE-SEM studies. FTIR studies indicated probable hydrogen bonding interaction between the oxygen containing groups on graphene surface and the -OH groups in PVA and starch. Mechanical properties results showed that the optimum loading of graphene was 0.5 wt % in the blend. XRD studies indicated uniform dispersion of graphene in PVA/starch matrix upto 0.5 wt % loadings and further increase caused agglomeration. Thermal studies showed that the thermal stability of PVA increased and the crystallinity decreased in the presence of starch and graphene. FE-SEM studies showed that incorporation of graphene increased the ductility of the composites.