In this study, surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization has been employed for the grafting of epsilon-caprolactone from cellulose nanoparticles, made by partial hydrolysis of cellulose cotton linters. A sacrificial initiator was employed during the grafting reactions, to form free polymer in parallel to the grafting reaction. The degree of polymerization of the polymer grafts, and of the free polymer, was varied by varying the reaction time. The aim of this study was to estimate the cellulose nanoparticle degree of surface substitution at different reaction times. This was accomplished by combining measurement results from spectroscopy and chromatography. The prepared cellulose nanoparticles were shown to have 3.1 (+/- 0.3) % of the total anhydroglucose unit content present at the cellulose nanoparticle surfaces. This effectively limits the amount of cellulose that can be targeted by the SI-ROP reactions. For a certain SI-ROP reaction time, it was assumed that the resulting degree of polymerization (DP) of the grafts and the DP of the free polymer were equal. Based on this assumption it was shown that the cellulose nanoparticle surface degree of substitution remained approximately constant (3-7 %) and seemingly independent of SI-ROP reaction time. We believe this work to be an important step towards a deeper understanding of the processes and properties controlling SI-ROP reactions occurring at cellulose surfaces.

Cellulose nanocrystals are aligned in wrinkled polydimethylsiloxane templates and transferred to polyethyleneimine-coated silica surfaces in a printing process similar to microcontact printing. The highly aligned nanorods were deposited onto the surfaces with a line-to-line distance of 225-600 nm without loss of alignment. It was also possible to repeat the transfer process on the same surface at a 90-degree angle to create a network structure. This demonstrates the versatility of the technique and creates more options for advanced multilayering of materials. To demonstrate that the surface properties of the anionic cellulose nanorods were unaffected by the transfer process and to prove the concept of functionalizing transferred particles, cationic latex particles were electrostatically self-assembled onto the cellulose nanorods. The directed deposition of these particles resulted in excellent site specificity and the highest resolution to date for controlled deposition of colloids on an electrostatically patterned surface.

This paper presents the successful surface modification of a model cellulose substrate by the preparation and subsequent physical adsorption of cationic polymer latexes. The first part of the work introduces novel charged polymer nanoparticles constituted of amphiphilic block copolymers based on cationic poly(N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (P(DMAEMA-co-MAA)) as the hydrophilic segment, and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) as the hydrophobic segment. First, RAFT polymerization of N,N-dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) in water was performed at pH 7, below its pK(a). The simultaneous hydrolysis of DMAEMA led to the formation of a statistical copolymer incorporating mainly protonated DMAEMA units and some deprotonated methacrylic acid units at pH 7. The following step was the RAFT-mediated surfactant-free emulsion polymerization of methyl methacrylate (MMA) using P(DMAEMA-co-MAA) as a hydrophilic macromolecular RAFT agent. During the synthesis, the formed amphiphilic block copolymers self-assembled into cationic latex nanoparticles by polymerization-induced self-assembly (PISA). The nanoparticles were found to increase in size with increasing molar mass of the hydrophobic block. The cationic latexes were subsequently adsorbed to cellulose model surfaces in a quartz crystal microbalance equipment with dissipation (QCM-D). The adsorbed amount, in mg m(-2), increased with increasing size of the nanoparticles. This approach allows for physical surface modification of cellulose, utilizing a water suspension of particles for which both the surface chemistry and the surface structure can be altered in a well-defined way.

Cellulose microspheres bearing poly(e-caprolactone) grafts of different molecular weights were investigated to evaluate the effect of graft length on the interfacial properties. Surface force and friction measurements were performed using an atomic force microscope in colloidal probe mode. The maximum interaction distance and adhesion is dependent on the temperature and the time in contact via a diffusion controlled mechanism. The effects are highest for the longer grafts, and molecular weight thresholds were found to lie between 21 and 34 kDa at 25 degrees C and between 9 and 21 kDa at 40 degrees C. The interpenetration of the graft into a matrix leads to "hidden length contributions to adhesion, analogous to those in natural biocomposites. The nanotribology results display Amontonian behavior, and the friction force at zero applied load is higher at the graft graft interface than for a bare cellulose sphere interacting with the graft. These results clearly demonstrate the benefits of the grafted polymer layer on the adhesion, toughness, and resistance nanobiocomposites.

In this work, highly porous nanopaper, i.e., sheets of papers made from non-aggregated nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC), have been surface-grafted with poly(epsilon-caprolactone) (PCL) by surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization (SI-ROP). The nanopaper has exceptionally high surface area (similar to 300 m(2)/g). The "grafting from" of the nanopapers was compared to "grafting from" of cellulose in the form of filter paper, and in both cases either titanium n-butoxide (Ti(On-Bu)(4)) or tin octoate (Sn(Oct)(2)) was utilized as a catalyst. It was found that a high surface area leads to significantly higher amount of grafted PCL in the substrates when Sn(Oct)2 was utilized as a catalyst. Up to 79 wt % PCL was successfully grafted onto the nanopapers as compared to filter paper where only 2-3 wt % PCL was grafted. However, utilizing Ti(On-Bu)4 this effect was not seen and the grafted amount was essentially similar, irrespectively of surface area. The mechanical properties of the grafted nanopaper proved to be superior to those of pure PCL films, especially at elevated temperatures. The present bottom-up preparation route of NFC-based composites allows high NFC content and provides excellent nanostructural control. This is an important advantage compared with some existing preparation routes where dispersion of the filler in the matrix is challenging.

In this study, cellulose fibres have been grafted utilizing surface-initiated ring-opening metathesis polymerisation (SI-ROMP). Initially, a Grubbs' type catalyst was immobilized onto filter paper whereafter SI-ROMP of norbornene was performed from the surface of the fibres at three different reaction temperatures, room temperature (RT), 0 degrees C and -18 degrees C, and for different reaction times. The evaluation of the grafted cellulose was performed by contact angle measurements, FT-Raman spectroscopy, FE-SEM and TGA. After the grafting, all samples were clearly hydrophobic with weight increases up to over 100%. The FT-Raman spectroscopy analysis showed significant structural changes after polymerization for cellulose substrates polymerized at 0 degrees C and RT, confirming that a polymer was grafted from the surface. FE-SEM images verified that these samples are covered by polynorbornene and that the fibrillar structure of the native cellulose disappeared. For the samples grafted at -18 degrees C, no significant changes were seen with these analysis methods. However, SI-ROMP appears to be a versatile method to modify cellulose fibres.

Polymer surface-grafting is an excellent method to modify the properties of a surface. However, surface-initiated polymerization is still relatively poorly understood due to the lack of appropriate characterization methods and tools to monitor the polymerizations. Herein, we report the in situ, surface-initiated ring-opening polymerization (SI-ROP) investigated in real time by the Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) technique. The polymerization was performed from a cellulose model surface and the polymerization was initiated directly from the available hydroxyl groups on the cellulose. The cyclic monomer 3-caprolactone and an organic catalyst, 1,5,7-triazabicyclo[4.4.0]dec-5-ene (TBD), were used, and the reaction was performed in bulk at room temperature. Since a free polymer was formed in bulk in parallel to the grafting from the surface, the reaction was performed in three cycles with rinsing steps in between to measure only the effect of the surface grafting. The change in frequency showed that the grafted amount of polymer increased after each cycle indicating that most of the chain ends remained active. After polymer grafting, the cellulose model surface showed a more hydrophobic character, and the surface roughness of the cellulose model surface was reduced. This study clearly shows that QCM is a viable method to monitor SI-ROP in situ from cellulose surfaces. We believe this is an important step towards a deeper understanding of how to tailor the interface between polymer-modified cellulose and a polymer matrix in biocomposites.