Facile And Direct Adhesive of Cellulose Substrates Using Inorganic Metal Salt Through Partial Welding

Abstract In this study, we describe a method of cellulose substrates bonding through partial dissolution using low dosage of zinc chloride aqueous solvent as an adhesive. The results exhibited that the bonding area of strips was tough without any failure though the mechanical test, shrinks in solvent-diffusion area was the main reason that let to breakage. The study found that shrink phenomena in diffusion area can be avoided on a certain extent by the decrease in dosage of zinc chloride. Scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometer revealed that the cellulose was partial dissolved and regenerated cellulose filled with the gaps between fibers, providing evidences of the macromolecular interlocking and entangling mechanism for combining strips. Additionally, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that a certain amount of zinc oxides was remained in the adhesive strips, demonstrating a difficulty of zinc ions to be completely removed due to their close combination with cellulose chains. This work provides an attractive attempt that partially dissolved cellulose was used as an adhesive, extending the application of cellulose welding and a new concept for bonding cellulose materials.