Table 4.

Biodegradability of different starch-based biopolymers.

Starch-Based Nanocomposite	Method	Biodegradation	Other Observation	Reference
Poly(ethyl methacrylate)-co-starch/graphene oxide/Ag NPs (PEMA-co-starch/GO/Ag NPs)	Active sludge water for 180 days.	4.5% after 180 days.	GO and Ag NPs (2 wt.%) increased thermal stability, chemical resistance, tensile strength, and oxygen barrier property. Antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Bacillus subtilis.	[97]
Maize starch/PVA/TiO2	Soil burial test: buried at 2–3 cm depth in peaty soil with 60% moisture, 98% RH, at 30 °C for 3 months.	Around <20% remaining mass after 80 days.	The addition of fibrous TiO2 (0.01 and 0.05 wt.%) decreased the elongation at break and improved the tensile strength, Young’s modulus UV, and water vapor barrier properties.	[146]
Sweet potato starch (SPS)/montmorillonite (MMT)/thyme essential oil (TEO)	Soil burial degradation test.	The addition of MMT hindered the biodegradability (23.25%) of SPS (48.88%). Biodegradability of SPS/MMT increased with the addition of TEO (61–63%)	The addition of MMT and TEO improved water resistance by 50%. The addition of MMT at 3% and TEO at 2% improved the elongation, Young’s modulus, and water vapor barrier properties of SPS.	[100]
Corn starch/glycerol/montmorillonite (MMT) nanoclay	Microbiological medium of pure Micrococcus luteus culture incubating at room temperature for 30 days.	Complete decay after 20 days in corn starch and 21–24 days in corn starch filled with nanoclay.	Addition of nanoclay (2–3 wt.%) in corn starch reduced water absorption (by 22%), moisture uptake (40%), oxygen permeation (30%), and swelling thickness (31%).	[15]
Cationic starch (CS)/montmorillonite (MMT)/nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC)	Composting conditions at 58 °C for 26 days.	CS/MMT/NCC nanocomposite films showed a higher decomposition rate than pure CS. 90% disintegration after 26 days.	Addition of MMT (5% wt) and NCC (5% wt) increased tensile strength (6.60 MPa) and modulus (2.17 GPa), and decreased elongation at break, water solubility (19.63%), moisture absorption (17.73%), water vapor permeability (4.61 gMm.m−2day.kPa), O2 permeability (28.72 cm3m−1d−1Pa−1).	[127]
Cross-linked poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/maleated thermoplastic starch (MTPS)/montmorillonite (MMT)	Samples (1.5 × 1.5 cm) in activated sludge for 3 months.	MTPS and nanoclay improved the biodegradation, while crosslinking of PLA reduced the biodegradation rate.	The addition of MMT improved tensile strength. Increasing MTPS (wt.%) content decreased the tensile strength and increased the elongation at break.	[71]
Corn starch-g-poly(AA-co-AAm)/natural char nanoparticles (NCNPs) nanocomposite encapsulated urea. Where: acrylic acid (AA), acrylamide (AAm).	Buried in the soil at pH 7.5 for 30 days.	The degradation rate after 30 days was 23.9%.	The addition of NCNPs decreased the leaching of nitrate and improved soil water-retention capacity.	[84]
Thermoplastic corn starch (TPS)/cellulose nanofibrils from pineapple leaf/oxidized sucrose	Sample (40 × 8 × 2 mm) buried at 10 cm depth of a sand and soil mixture (in equal ratio) at ambient temperature for 30 days.	About 30% weight loss in cross-linked films after 30 days, much lower than TPS (80%).	-	[5]
Starch/polyethylhexylacrylate (PEHA)/polyvinylalcohol (PVA)/nano CaCO3 nanocomposite	Activated sludge water for 90 days.	Starch/PEHA/PVA/CaCO3 (8 wt.%) degraded by 65% after 15 days	CaCO3 increased the tensile strength, thermal conductivity, thermal stability, and chemical resistance. Antimicrobial activity against Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa.	[149]
Poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/thermoplastic cassava starch (TPCS)/graphene nanoplatelets (GRH)	Samples (1 cm2) buried in inoculated vermiculite and compost under aerobic controlled conditions: at 58 ± 2 °C, RH 50 ± 5%, and airflow rate 40 ± 2 cm3min−1).	The addition of GRH decreased the biodegradation rate from 0.11 to 0.06 d−1 in vermiculite and 0.09 to 0.08 d−1 in compost media.	In PLA, adding TPCS and GRH reduced the crystallinity (34.5 to 4.5%).	[148]
Polylactic acid (PLA)/starch (S)/poly-ε-caprolactone (PCL)/nano hydroxyapatite (nHAp)/	In-vitro hydrolytic degradation test, 0.15 g samples (1 × 1 × 0.15 cm) was hot pressed and incubated in 50 mL phosphate buffer with pH 7.4 at 37 °C.	The increase in nHAp content (1–7%), faster the degradation (13–10 months).	Incorporating nHA (3%) improved the hydrophilicity and antibacterial activity (against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus).	[110]
Starch-graft-poly(acrylamide) (PAM)/graphene oxide (GO)/hydroxyapatite NPs (nHAp) nanocomposite	Soaked in PBS buffer solutions (pH 7.4) containing lysozyme (5000 U/mL) at 37 °C for 15 days.	Biodegradation decreased with increasing nHAp content. Degradability was 41–11% lower than that of PAM/GO (55%) after 15 days.	With increasing nHAp content, porosity, water content, and water uptake were decreased.	[126]
Thermoplastic starch (TPS)/beta-tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) NPs	In vitro degradation tests were performed in a simulated body fluid (SBF) for 28 days.	Degraded 51% after 28 days, higher than TPS (47%).	Adding β-TCP at 10% improved the mechanical properties of TPS.	[105]
Starch/PVA/Ag NPs	Under controlled aerobic composting conditions at 58 ± 2 °C for 45 days (based on EN ISO 14855-1: 2012 standard). Disintegration test under composting conditions: 5 g of film samples (25 × 25 mm) at 58 ± 2 °C for 73 days (ISO 20200: 2004).	Biodegradation is 58% after 45 days, which is higher than that of PVA (54%) and lower than starch (134%). Poor disintegration behavior in comparison to starch.	-	[14]
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/corn starch (CS)/linseed polyol (LP)/Ag NPs	Soil burial of samples (2 × 2 cm) at a depth of 10 cm.	Biodegradability after 4 weeks PVA < PVA/CS < PVA/CS/LP < PVA/CS/LP/Ag NPs	Improved contact angle (53°), water absorption capacity (equilibrium swelling percentage 129%), thermal stability (10% weight loss at 308 °C), and biodegradation than PVA/CS film. Ag NPs improved antimicrobial behavior against Proteus mirabilis, Candida albicans, Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus aureus, Klebsiella pneumoniae, among others.	[96]