Preparation and Properties of Wheat Gluten/NeedleLike Silicate Nanocomposites

In this work, wheat gluten (WG) was reinforced with attapulgite (ATT) to form a nanocomposites through wet process, freezedrying and thermally compression molding process. TEM and SEM images indicated that the attapulgites were uniformly distributed in the matrix. The mechanical properties of wheat glutenattapulgite nanocomposites reached the maximum strength when the addition of attapulgite was 7%. The biodegradation tests of WGATT nanocomposites showed that the mass of the nanocomposites lost 50% after buried beneath soil for 10 d, and lost over 80% in 20 d. The results showed that the mechanical properties and biodegradability of wheat gluten material could be improved through the formation of nanocomposite with attapulgite.