Meng-Jiu Chen

Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance evidence of degradation in thermoplastics based on forest products

The degradation of lignin-(1-phenylethylene) graft copolymers (lignin-styrene graft copolymers) by white rot basidiomycete fungi was followed by monitoring aromatic absorption bands by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The FTIR of the graft copolymers shows a series of characteristic absorbance peaks from multi-substituted aromatic rings and a strong poly(1-phenylethylene) (polystyrene) absorbance peak from monosubstituted aromatic rings. Subtraction of copolymer spectra taken before incubation from spectra taken after 50 days of incubation with the four tested fungi shows the loss of functional groups from the copolymer. NMR spectra also show reduction of aromatic ring resonances from the copolymer and incorporation of peaks from fungi as a result of incubation with fungi. The biodegradation tests were run on lignin-(1-phenylethylene) graft copolymers which contained 10.3, 32.2, and 50.4% of lignin. The polymer samples were incubated with the white rot fungiPleurotus ostreatus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, andTrametes versicolor, and the brown rot fungusGleophyllum trabeum. White rot fungi degraded the plastic samples at a rate that increased with increasing lignin content in the copolymer sample. Both poly(1-phenylethylene) and lignin components of the copolymer were readily degraded. Observation by scanning electron microscopy of incubated copolymers showed a deterioration of the plastic surface. The brown rot fungus did not affect any of these plastics, nor did any of the fungi degrade pure poly(1-phenylethylene).

Fungal biodegradation of lignin graft copolymers from ethene monomers

Abstract White rot Basidiomycetes were able to biodegrade styrene (1-phenylethene) or methyl methacrylate (4-methyl-2-oxy-3-oxopent-4-ene) graft copolymers of lignin containing different proportions of lignin and polystyrene [poly(1-phenylethylene)] or polymethyl methacrylate [poly(1-methyl-1-(1-oxo-2-oxypropyl)ethylene)]. The biodegradation tests were run on lignin/styrene copolymerization products which contained 10.3, 32.2, and 50.4 wt% lignin while biodegradation tests were run on lignin/methyl methacrylate copolymerization products which contained 11 to 18 wt% lignin. The styrene polymer samples were incubated with white rot Pleurotus ostreatus, Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Trametes versicolor, and brown rot Gloeophyllum trabeum. The methyl methacrylate polymer samples were incubated with white rot Pleurotus ostreatus, Trametes versicolor, and Phlebia radiata. White rot fungi degraded the plastic samples at a rate which increased with increasing lignin content in the copolymer sample. Both polystyren...

Alteration of the surface energy of wood using lignin-(1-phenylethene) graft copolymers

Abstract Graft copolymers of lignin, made by free radical graft copolymerization of 1-phenylethene on lignin, increased the contact angle of water on birch wood (Betula papyrifera) and decreased the critical surface tension of the wood when coated onto the wood surface from an N, N-dimethylformamide solution. The coating of copolymer changed the wood from hydrophilic (∼50°) to hydrophobic (110°). The most pronounced change in contact angle was produced by benzene-soluble extracts of the reaction product. These extracts contained lignin with long poly(1-phenylethylene) sidechains and pure poly(1-phenylethylene). They produced surfaces with the numerically highest contact angles with water and changed the wetting behavior of the surface more than physical mixtures of lignin and poly(1-phenylethylene) or either of the pure polymers. Despite coating weights of less than 100 mg/cm, the critical surface tension of the birch wood coated with the various lignin-(1-phenylethylene) graft copolymers ranged from 26.9...

Synthesis and Identification of Graft Copolymers of Wood Pulp and 4-Methyl-2-oxy-3-oxopent-4-ene

Abstract A set of graft copolymers of wood pulp and 4-methyl-2-oxy-3-oxopent-4-ene has been synthesized. The graft reaction is a free radical polymerization coinitiated by calcium chloride, hydrogen peroxide on wood pulp in dimethylsulfoxide at 30°C. The wood pulps used in this research are unbleached products produced by chemical, thermal and mechanical pulping. All of them contain 25 to 29 weight percent lignin. Separation of the grafted wood pulp from homopoly(1-methyl-1-(2-oxy-1-oxopropyl)ethylene) formed during the reaction was done by benzene extraction. The results show that after the reaction, virtually all the wood pulps have a weight increase and, for very high yield sodium bisulfite pulp, a weight increase of up to 92.7% of the original weight of pulp was obtained. The Fourier transform infrared spectra of the benzene unextr-actable fractions provide strong proof of grafting. The grafted wood pulp is a surface-modified pulp. Grafting has changed the surface properties of the starting wood pulp ...