Research Article XRD Investigation of Some Thermal Degraded Starch Based Materials Mihai Todica, 1 Elena Mihaela Nagy, 2 Carmen Niculaescu, 1 Oana Stan, 1 Nicolae Cioica, 2 and Cornel Viorel Pop 1 1 Faculty of Physics, Babes-Bolyai University, Nr. 1, Kogalniceanu Str., 40047 Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2 INMA Bucharest, Branch Cluj-Napoca, Nr. 59, Al. Vaida Voievod Str., 40047 Cluj-Napoca, Romania Correspondence should be addressed to Mihai Todica; mihai.todica@phys.ubbcluj.ro Received 17 August 2016; Revised 24 October 2016; Accepted 10 November 2016 Academic Editor: Nikˇ sa Krstulovi´ c Copyright © 2016 Mihai Todica et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Te thermal degradation of some starch based materials was investigated using XRD method. Te samples were obtained by thermal extrusion of mixtures of diferent proportions of starch, glycerol, and water. Such materials are suitable for the manufacturing of low pollutant packaging. Termal degradation is one of the simplest ways to destroy such materials and this process is followed by structural modifcation of the local ordering of samples, water evaporation, crystallization, oxidation, or destruction of the chemical bonds. Tese modifcations need to be studied in order to reduce to the minimum production of pollutant residues by burning process. XRD measurements show modifcation of the local ordering of the starch molecules depending on the temperature and initial composition of the samples. Te molecular ordering perturbation is more pronounced in samples with low content of starch. 1. Introduction Te recycling or disposal without pollutant efects of the enormous quantity of residual waste produced daily by the humanity is one of the major challenges of today. One of the solutions is to use biodegradable materials in manufacturing these products [1, 2]. Wood or cellulose could be suitable materials for this purpose, but their use on an industrial scale leads to excessive exploitation of the forests, with negative efects on climate and environment. On the other hand, the destruction of these materials by burning or putrefaction is pollutant. A viable alternative is the use of regenerative materials obtained from crops or other plants with low pollution potential. Starch is one of the most promising materials for this purpose, because it can be easily obtained at low cost from corn, potatoes, or other vegetables and can be fully recycled without any toxic residues [3–5]. However, starch in its natural state has low mechanical properties and low resistance to water and cannot be used for packaging. Improvement of its qualities can be achieved by combination with glycerol, which acts as a plasticizer. Previously, we obtained new materials by thermal extrusion of diferent proportions of water, starch, and glycerol [6, 7]. Te samples obtained this way are less soluble in water and have enhanced mechanical properties compared with the initial component. Rheological investigation of these samples show specifc fow behavior depending on shear stress and temperature [8]. On a microscopic scale, the NMR investigations indicate diferent mechanisms of relaxation of the transversal magnetization of the protons depending on temperature and sample compo- sition. Tese fndings were correlated with the new physical structures and local molecular organization induced by the synthesis process [9]. Te starch and the pure glycerol, in their initial state, can be easily recycled without pollutant efects by hydration or moderate heating, but the product obtained through the plas- ticizing process has diferent physical properties compared with the initial components and exhibits diferent behavior in the presence of water or when submitted to thermal degradation. Heating is one of the easier ways to destroy the used packaging, but this oxidative process leads to important modifcation of the physical and chemical properties of the materials. Depending on the temperature and duration of the heating we can assist to modifcation of the organization of Hindawi Publishing Corporation Journal of Spectroscopy Volume 2016, Article ID 9605312, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/9605312