Abstract
Polymer coatings on cellulosic fibres are widely used to enhance the natural fibre properties by improving, for example, the hydrophobicity and wet strength. Here, we investigate the effects of a terpolymer P(S-co-MABP-co-PyMA) coating on cotton linters and eucalyptus fibres to improve the resistance of cellulose fibres against wetness. Coated and uncoated fibres were characterised by using scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurements, Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy with the objective of correlating macroscopic properties such as the hydrophobicity of the fleece with microscopic properties such as the coating distribution and local nanomechanics. The scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy results revealed the distribution of the coating on the paper fleeces and fibres. Contact angle measurements proved the hydrophobic character of the coated fleece, which was also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy measurements that investigated the water uptake in single fibres. The water uptake also induced a change in the local mechanical properties, as measured by atomic force microscopy. These results verify the basic functionality of the hydrophobic coating on fibres and paper fleeces but call into question the homogeneity of the coating.Graphic abstract
Highlights
Introducing paper as a functional material in the fields of microfluidics, electronics, sensor technologies, and medicine is promising and challenging (Bump et al 2015; Delaney et al 2011; Gurnagul and Page 1989; Hayes and Feenstra 2003; Liana et al 2012; Ruettiger et al 2016)
We report on the effect of humidity on unmodified cotton linter paper (LP) and eucalyptus sulphate paper (EP) fibres, as well as LP and EP fibres coated with a fluorescent and hydrophobic polymer, namely, P(S-co-MABPco-PyMA), which is a promising terpolymer to improve the hydrophobicity of paper fleeces and fibres
SEM was used to visualise the structure of LP and EP and their morphological changes induced by the polymer coating
Summary
Introducing paper as a functional material in the fields of microfluidics, electronics, sensor technologies, and medicine is promising and challenging (Bump et al 2015; Delaney et al 2011; Gurnagul and Page 1989; Hayes and Feenstra 2003; Liana et al 2012; Ruettiger et al 2016). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) has been used to investigate the surface properties of cellulose-based materials in dry and wet states (Chhabra et al 2005; Li et al 2020). Further AFM-based colloidal probe measurements on cellulose were performed on gel beads made of cellulose to show the impact on the mechanical properties in the wet state (Hellwig et al 2017). With an AFM-based indentation method, it was possible to test the mechanical properties of wet cellulose and observe the Young’s modulus, which resulted in elucidating the kPa range (Hellwig et al 2018). In 2014, Ganser et al described the hardness and modulus of pulp fibres via AFM-based nanoindentation as a function of the relative humidity (Ganser et al 2014) and, in 2015, compared the results with viscose fibres (Ganser et al 2015). The breaking load of a single fibre as a function of the RH could be determined, and the breaking load decreased with increasing RH (Jajcinovic et al 2018)
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