Hamad, S.F. orcid.org/0000-0001-8567-0801, Stehling, N. orcid.org/0000-0002-3258-7454, Hayes, S.A. et al. (2 more authors) (2019) Exploiting plasma exposed, natural surface nanostructures in ramie fibers for polymer composite applications. Materials, 12 (10). 1631. ISSN 1996-1944
Abstract
Nanoscale surface morphology of plant fibers has important implications for the interfacial bonding in fiber-polymer composites. In this study, we investigated and quantified the effect of plasma-surface modification on ramie plant fibers as a potential tool for simple and efficient surface modification. The extensive investigation of the effects of plasma treatment of the fiber surface nano-morphology and its effect on the fiber-polymer interface was performed by Low-Voltages Scanning Electron Microscopy (LV-SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis, fiber-resin angle measurements and mechanical (tensile) testing. The LV-SEM imaging of uncoated plasma treated fibers reveals nanostructures such as microfibrils and elementary fibrils and their importance for fiber mechanical properties, fiber wettability, and fiber-polymer matrix interlocking which all peak at short plasma treatment times. Thus, such treatment can be an effective in modifying the fiber surface characteristics and fiber-polymer matrix interlocking favorably for composite applications.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | ramie fibers; plasma treatment; nanoscale structures; microfibrils; surface wettability; LV-SEM |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > Department of Materials Science and Engineering (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 24 May 2019 14:05 |
Last Modified: | 24 May 2019 14:05 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | MDPI AG |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3390/ma12101631 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:146553 |