Renewable biopolymer materials with enhanced physical and chemical properties are of great interest for any number of structural, electronic, optical, and sensing applications.  As excellent solvents for biopolymers, certain ionic liquids (ILs), such as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate, can be used for biopolymer modification and manipulation through full dissolution or partial dissolution (natural fiber welding).  By diluting the ionic liquids with anti-solvents such as water, heat becomes the controlling factor necessary to obtain significant biopolymer mobilization.  Using a CO2 laser as the heat source to induce partial dissolution, biopolymers can be welded together in a spatial-specific manner.  In the present work we have studied the impact of the laser raster power, the number of laser passes, and the concentration of water in the ionic liquid on the quantity of heat absorbed into the biopolymer and the resulting welding of the natural fiber substrate. Data presented will focus on microscopic and macroscopic characterizations of spatially specific natural fiber welded materials.  We will present data for the evaluation of materials using scanning electron microscopy, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, confocal fluorescent spectromicroscopy, and tensile testing.

Laser induced natural fiber welding of biopolymer composites

247th National Meeting (2014)

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