Novel surface modification of cellulose film by heat-set finishing method using poly(ethylene glycol)-coated polystyrene nanospheres

✍ Scribed by Fusako Seto; Kaori Tahara; Akio Kishida; Yoichiro Muraoka; Mitsuru Akashi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 176 KB
• Volume: 74
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-8995
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(19991107)74:6<1516::aid-app25>3.0.co;2-1

✦ Synopsis

The nanosphere having hydrophobic backbone and hydrophilic branches was used as the agent for the surface modification of a cellulose film. They were obtained by dispersion copolymerization of styrene (St) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) macromonomers in an ethanol/water solution at 60°C by using a free-radical initiator. The PEG-coated polystyrene (PSt) nanosphere-water dispersions were prepared at concentrations of 0.1, 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0% (w/v). A measure of 1 mL of the dispersion was poured over the cellulose film, cut into a strip of 5 ϫ 5 cm 2 . The film was pressed by plates heated at 200°C with 6.8 g/cm 2 pressure for 2 min to melt PSt nanospheres and fix them on the cellulose film. The morphology of the film surface was also observed by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The resulting modified surface was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The contact angle, the moisture absorption, and the leakage of electrostatic charge from the film were studied. The surface of the film treated with the dispersion had high water-repellency, although the bulk properties did not change. It was found that the dispersion was effective in making the cellulose surface hydrophobic. The surface modification of cellulose film was successful by using this simple method.