Surface Energy and Lewis Acid-base Characteristics of Lignocellulosic Fibers upon Modification by Chemical Vapor Deposition of Trichloromethylsilane: An Inverse Gas Chromatography Study: An Inverse Gas Chromatography Study

The surface of a thermomechanical pulp (TMP), containing 26 wt% of lignin, was modified by silanization with trichloromethylsilane (TCMS) via chemical vapor deposition, and thoroughly analyzed for its physicochemical properties by inverse gas chromatography (attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy being used as complementary tools). For a 2-min TCMS-treated TMP, a decrease of the dispersive component of the surface energy from 38 to 14 mJ m−2 (at 40°C), and, at the same time, an increase of the Lewis acidic and Lewis basic characters were found. The surface of this sample, modified in a high extent, was similar to that of a bleached kraft pulp (<0.1 wt% of lignin) subjected to the same silanization process, which is suggested as being due, in both cases, to the formation of a methyl-silica coating on the fiber’s surface. The new silanized fibers obtained from cheap TMP can be used for the production of a new generation of biocomposites with a variety of matrices.