Chitosan as a coupling agent for phosphate glass fibre/polycaprolactone composites

Tan, Chao; Rudd, Chris; Parsons, Andrew J.; Sharmin, Nusrat; Zhang, Junxiao; Chen, Wanru; Ahmed, Ifty

Abstract

This study shows that chitosan (CS) could be highly useful as a coupling agent in phosphate glass fibre/polycaprolactone (PGF/PCL) composites, as it improved the interfacial shear strength by up to 78%. PGFs of composition 45P2O5-5B2O3-5Na2O-24CaO-10MgO-11Fe2O3 were dip-coated with CS (with a degree of deacetylation >80%) dissolved in acetic acid solution (2% v/v). Different CS concentrations (3-9 g L -1) and coating processes were investigated. Tensile and fragmentation tests were conducted to obtain mechanical properties of the single fibres and interfacial properties of the PGF/PCL composites, respectively. It was observed that " post-cleaning " the treated fibres reduced their tensile strength by around 20%, however the CS coated fibres saw strength increases of up to 1.1-11.5%. TGA and SEM analyses were used to confirm the presence of CS on the fibre surface. FTIR, Raman and XPS analyses further confirmed the presence of CS and indicated the protonation of CS amine groups. Moreover, the nitrogen spectrum of XPS demonstrated a minimum threshold of CS coating required to provide an improved interface.

Citation

Tan, C., Rudd, C., Parsons, A. J., Sharmin, N., Zhang, J., Chen, W., & Ahmed, I. (2018). Chitosan as a coupling agent for phosphate glass fibre/polycaprolactone composites. Fibers, 6(4), https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6040097

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Nov 30, 2018
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2018
• Publication Date: Dec 10, 2018
• Deposit Date: Dec 3, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 3, 2018
• Journal: Fibers
• Electronic ISSN: 2079-6439
• Publisher: MDPI
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 97
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/fib6040097
• Keywords: chitosan; coupling agent; phosphate glass fibre; polycaprolactone (PCL) composite
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1358291
• Publisher URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-6439/6/4/97