Polylactic Acid Research Paper

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Glow discharge oxygen plasma surface modification of electrospun polylactic acid-cellulose acetate composite fiber
Joanna Abigael Dasecoa,b*, Juvy J. Monserateb.c, Gerardo V. Ilaganc, Henry J. Ramosa a Plasma Physics Laboratory, National Institute of Physics, University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City 1101, Philippines b Materials Science and Engineering Program, University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City 1101, Philippines c Physical, Inorganic and Materials Science Laboratory, Central Luzon State University, Science City of Munoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines
Corresponding author: jdaseco@nip.upd.edu.ph
Abstract. Oxygen plasma treatment of electrospun fibers mats was conducted using a low pressure DC parallel plate plasma device …show more content…

It can be fabricated as films, fibers, and other packaging material.

However, some disadvantages of polylactic acid are its inherent hydrophobic nature which makes it difficult for adhesion and its weak thermal properties compared to synthetic polymers [1-3]. The hydrophobic nature of polylactic acid also can elicit inflammatory response in the tissue when used as scaffolds for tissue engineering [3].

Hence, there is still a need to modify the properties of polylactic acid fibers. One type of modification technique is matrix polymer modification wherein the PLA fibers are mechanically or chemically reinforce. Natural fibers have been widely used as reinforcements for biodegradable polymer fibers and are called natural fiber composites. Cellulosic fibers from plants such as jute, coconut coir, hemp, flax have been utilized as reinforcements …show more content…

The droplet was photographed using a Dino-Lite Pro digital microscope and water contact angle was measured using DinoCapture 2.0 Three Points Arc function. Contact angle of the untreated and plasma treated samples were obtained as an average of ten drops.

2.3.2 Vertical Wicking Test

Vertical wicking test was conducted to determine the wicking rate of untreated and plasma treated samples. A strip of the fiber mats with dimensions 25 mm x 10 mm was attached to a ruler and its bottom end is brought into contact with deionized water contained in a small petri dish. A digital camera was used to record the whole process of the wicking test through video. Still snapshots were extracted from the video for every second of the process and the height of the liquid front was subsequently recorded. The wicking kinetics was then described using the modified Washburn equation discussed by Chatterjee [9]:

h^2= W_c t where: W_c=(R_e γ

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