Effect of Cellulose Nanocrystals on the Coating of Chitosan Nanocomposite Film Using Plasma-Mediated Deposition of Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a–C:H) Layers

Abstract

The substitution of petroleum-based polymers with naturally derived biopolymers may be a good alternative for the conservation of natural fossil resources and the alleviation of pollution and waste disposal problems. However, in order to be used in a wide range of applications, some biopolymers’ properties should be enhanced. In this study, biocompatible, non-toxic, and biodegradable chitosan (CS) film and CS reinforced with 10 wt% of cellulose nanocrystals (CN–CS) were coated with amorphous hydrogenated carbon layers (a–C:H) of different thickness. To investigate the effect of the nano-reinforcement on the a–C:H layer applied, mild radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD) was used to coat the CS and its CN–CS bio-nanocomposite film. Both the surface characteristics and the chemical composition were analyzed. The surface morphology and wettability were examined by ex-situ atomic force microscopy (AFM) and contact angle measurements (CA), respectively. Hereby, the relationship between sp2/sp3 ratios on a macroscopic scale was also evaluated. For the investigation of the chemical composition, the surface sensitive synchrotron X-ray radiation techniques near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) as well as diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT) were used.

Comparing the Influence of Residual Stress on Composite Materials Made of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) and Amorphous Hydrogenated Carbon (a-C:H) Layers: Differences Caused by Single Side and Full Substrate Film Attachment during Plasma Coating

“…Afterwards, the ascending layer thicknesses were recorded in order to determine the pure changes of the surface bonds through the a-C:H coating. The evaluation of the spectra was done on the basics of infrared spectroscopy [ 31 ] and based on previous results and the work of other groups [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 16 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ].…”

Advances in the Applications of Graphene-Based Nanocomposites in Clean Energy Materials

“…The valence state, stereochemistry and electronic configuration of the central atom can be obtained by X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) [65]. Schlebrowski et al [66] reported that near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) was used to determine the binding state of surface carbon atoms.…”