Glass-Transition Temperature Profile Measured in a Wood Cell Wall Using Scanning Thermal Expansion Microscope (SThEM)

Abstract

This study aims to assess the in situ spatial distribution of glass-transition temperatures (Tg) of the main lignocellulosic biopolymers of plant cell walls. Studies are conducted using scanning thermal expansion microscopy to analyze the cross-section of the cell wall of poplar. The surface topography is mapped over a range of probe-tip temperatures to capture the change of thermal expansion on the sample surface versus temperature. For different temperature values chosen between 20 °C and 250 °C, several quantitative mappings were made to show the spatial variation of the thermal expansion. As the glass transition affects the thermal expansion coefficient and elastic modulus considerably, the same data line of each topography image was extracted to identify specific thermal events in their topographic evolution as a function of temperature. In particular, it is shown that the thermal expansion of the contact surface is not uniform across the cell wall and a profile of the glass-transition temperature could thus be evidenced and quantified corresponding to the mobility of lignocellulosic polymers having a role in the organization of the cell wall structures.