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. 2018 Jun 26;8(7):467.
doi: 10.3390/nano8070467.

Treatment of Nanocellulose by Submerged Liquid Plasma for Surface Functionalization

Denis Mihaela Panaitescu  1 , Sorin Vizireanu  2 , Cristian Andi Nicolae  3 , Adriana Nicoleta Frone  4 , Angela Casarica  5 , Lavinia Gabriela Carpen  6 , Gheorghe Dinescu  7
Affiliations

Treatment of Nanocellulose by Submerged Liquid Plasma for Surface Functionalization

Denis Mihaela Panaitescu et al. Nanomaterials (Basel). .

Abstract

Tailoring the surface properties of nanocellulose to improve the compatibility of components in polymer nanocomposites is of great interest. In this work, dispersions of nanocellulose in water and acetonitrile were functionalized by submerged plasmas, with the aim of increasing the quality of this reinforcing agent in biopolymer composite materials. Both the morphology and surface chemistry of nanocellulose were influenced by the application of a plasma torch and filamentary jet plasma in a liquid suspension of nanocellulose. Depending on the type of plasma source and gas mixture the surface chemistry was modified by the incorporation of oxygen and nitrogen containing functional groups. The treatment conditions which lead to nanocellulose based polymer nanocomposites with superior mechanical properties were identified. This work provides a new eco-friendly method for the surface functionalization of nanocellulose directly in water suspension, thus overcoming the disadvantages of chemical treatments.

Keywords: dielectric barrier discharge; nanocellulose; plasma treatment; polymer nanocomposite; submerged liquid plasma.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Schematic representation of defibrillation and plasma treatment of nanocellulose.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Configuration of plasma jet sources: dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) (a) and plasma torch (E) (b).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image of nanocellulose (NC) from defibrillated membranes showing a sparse network of nanofibers.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images (peakforce error) of untreated (a) and plasma treated NC: Ar (b); Ar/O2 (c); Ar/N2 (d); Ar/N2 (E30) (e); Ar/NH3 (f); Ar-ACN (g); Regions of interest showing small-length nanofibers agglomerations are framed in squares.
Figure 5
Figure 5
AFM topographic images of untreated (a) and plasma treated NC: Ar (b); Ar/O2 (c); Ar/N2 (d); Ar/N2 (E30) (e); Ar/NH3 (f); Ar-ACN (g).
Figure 6
Figure 6
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) spectra (a) and derivative thermogravimetric (DTG) overlapped curves (b) of plasma treated NC.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of untreated and plasma treated NC (a); zoomed-in regions (775–675 cm−1) (b) and (1750–1500 cm−1) (c) of the same spectra.
Figure 8
Figure 8
High resolution spectra of C1s region with deconvolution (different colored C1–C4 components) for pristine NC (a) and plasma treated NC: NC-Ar (b); NC Ar/O2 (c); NC Ar/N2 (d); NC Ar/N2 (E15) (e); NC Ar/N2 (E30) (f); NC Ar/NH3 (g), and NC Ar-ACN (h).
Figure 9
Figure 9
High resolution N1s spectra with deconvolution (different colored N1–N4 components) of pristine NC (a); NC Ar/N2 (E30) (b); NC Ar/NH3 (c), and NC Ar-ACN sample (d).
Figure 10
Figure 10
TGA (a) and DTG (b) curves for poly (3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) nanocomposites containing plasma functionalized NC.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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