Mechanism of Moisture Adsorption In Plant Fibers Surface-Modified With Glycerol Evaluated By LF-NMR Relaxation Technique

Abstract

Surface modification by humectants is an important technology to improve product quality in textile field, healthcare, tobacco processing and paper-making industry. As a common humectant glycerol is applied to keep the moisture adsorbability of plant fibers during manufacturing. The effects of glycerol on the moisture adsorption of plant fibers were studied by analysising the induced differences of bulk and surface physicochemical property with XRD, FTIR, SEM characterizations. The improvement of moisture adsorption capacity of the modified plant fibers was due to the increased active adsorption sites, while the moisture diffusion resistance increased simultaneously with glycerol indicated by a declining Deff. LF-NMR relaxation spectra demonstrated the water sates and distributions in plant fibers were changed by loading glycerol. The moisture transfer mechanisms induced by glycerol were also investigated. Free water failed to materialize in the plant fibers treated with glycerol, immobile water existed preferentially during the adsorption, and bound water presented increasing after the immobile water were saturated. These findings are useful to improve the manufacturing processes of moisture-retaining properties of different functional plant fibers.