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    Clean and reactive nanostructured cellulose surface

    Year: 2013

    Journal: Cellulose, 2013, 20 (3), pp 983-990, 20130926

    Authors: Monika Österberg, Maria Soledad Peresin, Leena-Sisko Johansson, Tekla Tammelin

    Organizations: Department of Forest Products Technology, Aalto University, School of Chemical Engineering, P.O. Box 16300, 00076 Aalto, Espoo, Finland; VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, 02044 Espoo, Finland

    A simple, solvent-free and low cost method to activate the surface of nanofibrillated cellulose films for further functionalization is presented. The method is based on the oxidative properties of UV radiation and ozone, to effectively remove contaminants from nanocellulosic surface, which remains clean and reactive for at least a week. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and contact angle measurements. In clear contrast to previous results on nanoscaled cellulose the relative atomic concentration of non-cellulosic carbon atoms was only 4 %, and water completely wetted the surface within seconds. After activation, neither chemical degradation nor morphological changes on cellulose were observed. This surface activation is essential for further functionalization of the film in dry state or nonpolar media. The surface activation was confirmed by silylation and a four times higher degree of substitution was achieved on the activated sample compared to non-activated reference film, as monitored with XPS.