SI ATRP for the Surface Modifications of Optically Transparent Paper Films Made by TEMPO-Oxidized Cellulose Nanofibers

Jem-Kun Chen; Hsiang-Ya Huang; Cheng-Wei Tu; Li-Ting Lee; Tongsai Jamnongkan; Chih-Feng Huang

doi:10.3390/polym14050946

SI ATRP for the Surface Modifications of Optically Transparent Paper Films Made by TEMPO-Oxidized Cellulose Nanofibers

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Feb 26;14(5):946. doi: 10.3390/polym14050946.

Authors

Jem-Kun Chen¹, Hsiang-Ya Huang², Cheng-Wei Tu³, Li-Ting Lee⁴, Tongsai Jamnongkan⁵, Chih-Feng Huang²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei 10607, Taiwan.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, i-Center for Advanced Science and Technology (iCAST), National Chung Hsing University, Taichung 40227, Taiwan.
³ Industrial Technology Research Institute, Chutung, Hsinchu 31057, Taiwan.
⁴ Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Feng Chia University, Taichung 40724, Taiwan.
⁵ Department of Fundamental Science and Physical Education, Faculty of Science at Sriracha, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand.

Abstract

Applications of cellulose nanofibers currently match the demands of biodegradable and renewable constituent biocomposites. In this study, we studied the process of preparing TEMPO-oxidized cellulose nanofibers (TOCNs). These nano-sized cellulose fibers (ca. 11 nm) can be fabricated to high transmittance and optically transparent paper (OP) films. Then the OP films can be facilely immobilized initiating sites for the subsequent surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI ATRP). We investigated SI ATRP with styrene (St) kinetics and monitored chemical structure changes of the OP surfaces. The obtained OP-g-PSt significantly led to enhance thermal stability and alter the OP surface with hydrophobic compared to that of pristine OP film. Characterization was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA), and water contact angle (WCA) measurements.

Keywords: SI ATRP; TOCN; optically transparent paper film; polystyrene.