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Gradient characteristics of crystal, chemical structure, and nanoscale mechanical properties in the transcrystallinity of bamboo fiber anchored nano-TiO2/PP composites

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Abstract

Transcrystallinity (TC), a particular crystal structure located between natural fiber and matrix, provides a possibility to enhance the interfacial compatibility of natural fiber/thermoplastic polymer composite. Nevertheless, there was a limited amount of research focusing on the local properties of TC, and a few studies reported the gradient characteristics of composites from the fiber phase to the matrix phase. In this study, TC was successfully induced in bamboo fiber anchored nano-TiO2/polypropylene composite (TiO2-BF/PP). The gradient characteristics of crystal showed that the formation of TC did not modify the crystal form (α-crystal) of PP but varied the crystallinity from the interphase to the matrix. As in situ microscopic detection technologies, the microscopic infrared spectroscopy (Micro-IR) and nano-dynamic mechanical analysis (Nano-DMA) were creatively used in the research on the local properties of TC. The micro-IR results showed that due to the formation of TC, the chemical characteristics of interphase showed great differences from the PP matrix: the characteristic peak of the bending vibration of methylene group (δ(–CH2)) differentiated into two adjacent peaks, the peak of the stretching vibration of methylene group (ν(–CH2)) shifted to a lower wavenumber, and the absorption intensity images of ν(–CH2) and the bending vibration of methyl group (δ(–CH3)) showed higher absorption in the interphase than in the matrix. The nano-DMA results indicated that the storage modulus (Es) declined gradually from TiO2-BF to PP phase with the formation of TC (the Es of the interface was 47.78% higher than that of PP phase). The cluster analysis revealed that the changes in the crystal structure of the interphase and in the chemical characteristics due to the formation of TC had strong correlations with the improvement of nanoscale mechanical properties in the interface and the PP phase of the composite.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (32001263) and (32071856), Fujian Natural Science Foundation Key Project (2020J02031), the Foundation of International Centre for Bamboo and Rattan (1632019002).

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Correspondence to Dan Ren.

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Luan, Y., Fang, C., Wang, H. et al. Gradient characteristics of crystal, chemical structure, and nanoscale mechanical properties in the transcrystallinity of bamboo fiber anchored nano-TiO2/PP composites. Wood Sci Technol 56, 1783–1800 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-022-01418-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00226-022-01418-6

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