Direct Adhesive Measurements between Wood Biopolymer Model Surfaces

For the first time the dry adhesion was measured for an all-wood biopolymer system using Johnson–Kendall–Roberts (JKR) contact mechanics. The polydimethylsiloxane hemisphere was successfully surface-modified with a Cellulose I model surface using layer-by-layer assembly of nanofibrillated cellulose and polyethyleneimine. Flat surfaces of cellulose were equally prepared on silicon dioxide substrates, and model surfaces of glucomannan and lignin were prepared on silicon dioxide using spin-coating. The measured work of adhesion on loading and the adhesion hysteresis was found to be very similar between cellulose and all three wood polymers, suggesting that the interaction between these biopolymers do not differ greatly. Surface energy calculations from contact angle measurements indicated similar dispersive surface energy components for the model surfaces. The dispersive component was dominating the surface energy for all surfaces. The JKR work of adhesion was lower than that calculated from contact angle measurements, which partially can be ascribed to surface roughness of the model surfaces and overestimation of the surface energies from contact angle determinations.