The reduction of moisture absorption
of two hydrophilic materials, starch and cellulose, can be
explained by several factors: (1) moisture penetration is
reduced by the good interfacial adhesion between cellulose
and starch [26,36]; (2) cellulose is less hygroscopic than
starch due to higher degree of crystallinity, which is why
the moisture absorption reduces with addition of CNF
[11,26], and (3) formation of fibrous network of cellulose
prevents the swelling of the starch matrix and thus reduces
the moisture penetration