(4063)GRAFTING OF A NANO-TIO2 THIN FILM ON CELLULOSIC NATURAL FIBER AS AN INTER-PHASE FOR REINFORCING BIO-POLYMER COMPOSITES

摘要

Renewable materials have received a full attention in many applications because they are directly derived from earth and their degradability. Among them plant fibers are renewable and also light in weight which make them a good candidate as reinforcing elements in bio-based polymer composites. Having hydrophilic nature resulted by presence of hydroxyl groups in the structure of these fibers restricts their application in the polymeric matrices because of poor interfacial adhesion, and difficulties in mixing due to poor wetting of the fiber with the matrix. To resolve these problems this study tried firstly to functionalize the flax fibers which improve adhesion of subsequent amphiphilic TiO_2 thin films created by Sol-Gel technique. DSC and AFM have been used to characterize the thermal properties and topography of the fibers respectively. The particles obtained from Sol-Gel technique created a thin film of TiO_2 in anatase form with the thickness of 100nm.