Abstract
Surface properties of barley straw (Hordeum vulgare) play a crucial role in some industrial applications such as sorption in oil spills and soil clean-up. In this paper, the chemical and morphological heterogeneities of barley straw leaf and stem surfaces were investigated by water and oil contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The differences in the contact angles for internal versus external stem and leaf surfaces are explained by the presence of a complex wax layer at the external surface as revealed by FTIR external reflection spectroscopy. Wax composition was determined by transmission FTIR spectroscopy. SEM images confirmed the heterogeneity and complexity of the wax crystal structure of the outer stem surface. AFM measurements complemented the SEM analysis by providing additional structural details including a measure of surface roughness.
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