TY - JOUR
T1 - Iso‐ and anisotropic etching of micro nanofibrillated cellulose films by sequential oxygen and nitrogen gas plasma exposure for tunable wettability on crystalline and amorphous regions
AU - Dimić‐Mišić, Katarina
AU - Kostić, Mirjana
AU - Obradović, Bratislav
AU - Kuraica, Milorad
AU - Kramar, Ana
AU - Imani, Monireh
AU - Gane, Patrick
N1 - Funding Information:
Thanks: are extended to Thad Maloney of Aalto University, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems, for the provision of materials and processing in the formation of MNFC films. Acknowledgement is also given to Joe Campbell, of the same affiliation, for unstinting patience in providing XPS analysis of the complex materials used in the experimentation, and to Kaarlo Nieminen, also of the same affiliation, for data curve smoothing and the generation of 3D plots.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/7
Y1 - 2021/7
N2 - The surface of cellulose films, obtained from micro nanofibrillated cellulose produced with different enzymatic pretreatment digestion times of refined pulp, was exposed to gas plasma, resulting in a range of surface chemical and morphological changes affecting the mechanical and surface interactional properties. The action of separate and dual exposure to oxygen and nitrogen cold dielectric barrier discharge plasma was studied with respect to the generation of roughness (confocal laser and atomic force microscopy), nanostructural and chemical changes on the cellulose film surface, and their combined effect on wettability. Elemental analysis showed that with longer enzymatic pretreatment time the wetting response was sensitive to the chemical and morphological changes induced by both plasma gases, but distinctly oxygen plasma was seen to induce much greater morphological change while nitrogen plasma contributed more to chemical modification of the film surface. In this novel study, it is shown that exposure to oxygen plasma, subsequently followed by exposure to nitrogen plasma, leads first to an increase in wetting, and second to more hydrophobic behaviour, thus improving, for example, suitability for printing using polar functional inks or providing film barrier properties, respectively.
AB - The surface of cellulose films, obtained from micro nanofibrillated cellulose produced with different enzymatic pretreatment digestion times of refined pulp, was exposed to gas plasma, resulting in a range of surface chemical and morphological changes affecting the mechanical and surface interactional properties. The action of separate and dual exposure to oxygen and nitrogen cold dielectric barrier discharge plasma was studied with respect to the generation of roughness (confocal laser and atomic force microscopy), nanostructural and chemical changes on the cellulose film surface, and their combined effect on wettability. Elemental analysis showed that with longer enzymatic pretreatment time the wetting response was sensitive to the chemical and morphological changes induced by both plasma gases, but distinctly oxygen plasma was seen to induce much greater morphological change while nitrogen plasma contributed more to chemical modification of the film surface. In this novel study, it is shown that exposure to oxygen plasma, subsequently followed by exposure to nitrogen plasma, leads first to an increase in wetting, and second to more hydrophobic behaviour, thus improving, for example, suitability for printing using polar functional inks or providing film barrier properties, respectively.
KW - Micro nanofibrillated cellulose
KW - Plasma impact on surface cellulose structure
KW - Plasma‐induced chemical changes on cellulose
KW - Surface plasma exposure of cellulose
KW - Wettability of cellulose film
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85109169744&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ma14133571
DO - 10.3390/ma14133571
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85109169744
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 14
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 13
M1 - 3571
ER -