TY - JOUR
T1 - Unique combination of surface energy and lewis acid-base characteristics of superhydrophobic cellulose fibers
AU - Gamelas, J. A.F.
AU - Salvador, A.
AU - Hidalgo, J.
AU - Ferreira, P. J.
AU - Tejado, A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2017/1/31
Y1 - 2017/1/31
N2 - Cellulose fibers were first functionalized on their surface by silanization with trichloromethylsilane in an optimized gas-solid reaction, and the occurrence of the reaction was assessed using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Then, the changes in the physicochemical surface properties of the material were thoroughly assessed using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as surface specific tools. A very surprising combination of results was obtained: (i) the dispersive component of the surface energy was found to decrease from 42 to 14 mJ m-2 (at 40°C), the latter figure representing one of the lowest values ever reported (by IGC) for cellulose-based materials, and (ii) both Lewis acidic and Lewis basic characters of the fiber surface, as measured by the injection into the IGC columns of 15 different vapor probes, significantly increased with silanization. Moreover, those remarkable changes in the surface properties of the material were obtained at a low degree of silanization (as shown by ATR-FTIR). The present results may have a great impact in what concerns the application of the described type of superhydrophobic cellulose fibers for the production of new biocomposites: an unusual enhanced compatibility both with low-surface energy polymeric matrices, such as polyolefins, as well as with other types of matrices through Lewis acid-base interactions, can be predicted. (Graph Presented).
AB - Cellulose fibers were first functionalized on their surface by silanization with trichloromethylsilane in an optimized gas-solid reaction, and the occurrence of the reaction was assessed using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Then, the changes in the physicochemical surface properties of the material were thoroughly assessed using inverse gas chromatography (IGC) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy as surface specific tools. A very surprising combination of results was obtained: (i) the dispersive component of the surface energy was found to decrease from 42 to 14 mJ m-2 (at 40°C), the latter figure representing one of the lowest values ever reported (by IGC) for cellulose-based materials, and (ii) both Lewis acidic and Lewis basic characters of the fiber surface, as measured by the injection into the IGC columns of 15 different vapor probes, significantly increased with silanization. Moreover, those remarkable changes in the surface properties of the material were obtained at a low degree of silanization (as shown by ATR-FTIR). The present results may have a great impact in what concerns the application of the described type of superhydrophobic cellulose fibers for the production of new biocomposites: an unusual enhanced compatibility both with low-surface energy polymeric matrices, such as polyolefins, as well as with other types of matrices through Lewis acid-base interactions, can be predicted. (Graph Presented).
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85011036697&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03970
DO - 10.1021/acs.langmuir.6b03970
M3 - Article
C2 - 28033707
AN - SCOPUS:85011036697
SN - 0743-7463
VL - 33
SP - 927
EP - 935
JO - Langmuir
JF - Langmuir
IS - 4
ER -