THESIS - ROC CH ... - FINAL - resubmission.pdf - University of Guelph

(21 nm) particle was seen to have a max TS lower than that of the smaller P90 (14 nm). With a
larger particle size, the situation of the particle to an ideal bonding site where protein-protein
interaction is not present may be more difficult. More importantly, the smaller surface area of the
larger particle limits interaction opportunities thereby limiting the number of bonds present.
These results elucidate the importance of the size of the nanoparticle. The smaller nanoparticle
of P90 at 14 nm clearly yielded better mechanical performance with a lower optimal
concentration compared to P25. Further research could investigate the optimization between
particle size and concentration of nano fillers.
7.4.2 MICROSCOPY OF TIO2/CELLULOSE/SPI BLEND FILM
Light microscopy of SPI film incorporated with cellulose and/or TiO 2 is shown in Figure
7.6. Each row represents a different treatment with each column from left to right representing
the increasing concentration of additives. Looking to the SPI/TiO2 blend films in the first row,
concentration effects of TiO2 were not apparent. The visible appearance of small particles
scattered throughout these films are comparable to the SPI control film seen in Figure 6.4 from
Section 6.4.2. Also similar, were the SPI/cellulose blend films where fibers have a large size
distribution and with increasing concentration, the density of fibers also increased. The
presence of TiO2 also yielded similar results with no significant differences compared to
SPI/cellulose blends without TiO2 addition.
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