2015) or modified with TiO 2 nanoparticles or fluorinated silanes to obtain self-cleaning surfaces used for the separation of different liquids, such as water and oil (Chauhan et al. To control the wetting properties, paper fibres or the entire fleece can become hydrophobic with the application of polymer coatings (Janko et al. How the relative humidity (RH) affects the elastic modulus, stiffness and strength of materials has been studied by various authors (Ganser et al.

In particular, material swelling and the loss of mechanical stability in a humid or wet environment must be addressed. 2011 Gurnagul and 9 Hayes and Feenstra 2003 Liana et al. Introducing paper as a functional material in the fields of microfluidics, electronics, sensor technologies, and medicine is equally promising and challenging (Bump et al.

These results verify the basic functionality of the hydrophobic coating on fibres and paper fleeces but call into question the homogeneity of the coating. The water uptake also induced a change in the local mechanical properties, as measured by atomic force microscopy. Contact angle measurements proved the hydrophobic character of the coated fleece, which was also confirmed by Raman spectroscopy measurements that investigated the water uptake in single fibres. The scanning electron and fluorescence microscopy results revealed the distribution of the coating on the paper fleeces and fibres.

Coated and uncoated fibres were characterised by using scanning electron microscopy, contact angle measurements, Raman spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy with the objective of correlating macroscopic properties such as the hydrophobicity of the fleece with microscopic properties such as the coating distribution and local nanomechanics. Here, we investigate the effects of a terpolymer P(S-co-MABP-co-PyMA) coating on cotton linters and eucalyptus fibres to improve the resistance of cellulose fibres against wetness. Polymer coatings on cellulosic fibres are widely used to enhance the natural fibre properties by improving, for example, the hydrophobicity and wet strength.

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