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Nanosponge Tunability in Size and Crosslinking Density
Published on: August 4, 2017
Diisocyanate modifiable commercial filter paper with tunable hydrophobicity, enhanced wet tensile strength and
Xuelian Zhou1, Yanqiao Fu2, Lidong Chen2
1Jiangsu Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China; Joint International Research Lab of Lignocellulosic Functional Materials, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing, 210037, China.
Abstract:
Paper made of cellulose has the advantages of substantial resource, good biocompatibility, large operation scale, and low production cost, however, it is usually hindered to replace plastic due to its inferior stability to water and poor mechanical strength. Herein, commercial filter paper (FP) was reacted with methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI) to fabricate modified paper with tunable hydrophobicity and enhanced wet tensile strength. Due to the formation of urethane linkages in the reaction, both hydrophobicity and wet mechanical properties can be tuned and improved by varying the MDI cross-linking agent, exhibiting highest water contact angle of 137.0° and wet tensile strength of 4.8 MPa. In addition, the modified MDI-FPs exhibited excellent antibacterial performance against Escherichia coli compared with the original FP. Overall, this study provides a more simple approach to modify cellulose paper to produce versatile cellulose-based materials that can potentially replace the non-biodegradable plastics.
