Mechanical behavior of TPS films was characterized by two in-
dependent and complementary techniques (tensile tests and quasi-
static assays). It is well known that fillers incorporation to TPS
matrixes allows improving mechanical properties of composite
materials. Fig. 1 shows stress-strain curves corresponding to TPS
and its bionanocomposites containing talc particles determined by
both techniques. As it is observed in the curves obtained by tensile
and quasi-static assays, filler addition did not modify stress-strain
behavior of TPS, showing a characteristic curve of ductile mate-
rials. Table 1 presents mechanical properties of developed mate-
rials. Despite different values were obtained by both techniques,
talc addition influence onTPS mechanical performance was similar.
Tensile and quasi-static experiments revealed that the lowest used
talc concentration did not affect (p > 0.05) film stiffness. Consid-
ering results from quasi-static assays, a stiffness increment of
around 15% was observed for samples with 3% w/w talc concen-
tration. A 5% w/w of talc addition increased Young’s modulus
around 68 and 81%, determined by tensile and quasi-static exper-
iments, respectively. Incorporation of 1% w/w talc particles to TPS
formulations increased 1.2 times the maximum tensile stress,
determined by tensile tests. Both techniques demonstrated that 3
and 5% w/w talc incorporation increased significantly (p < 0.05)
TPS yield stress. Well dispersion and distribution of nanoparticles
within the matrix, attributed to good starch-talc compatibility,
allow TPS materials reinforcement (Lim, Lee, & Tay, 2009). Particle-
matrix interfacial adhesion could be associated to the edge surfaces
which have hydrophilic groups such as -SieOH and -MgeOH
(Chabrol et al., 2010). In addition, Ferrage et al. (2002) reported the
presence of electronegative sites on talc tetrahedral sheets propi-
tious to form hydrogen bonds with polypropylene methyl groups.
Similar interaction could be expected for composites based on TPS
and talc nanoparticles.