Effect of the penetration of isocyanates (pMDI) on the nanomechanics of wood cell wall evaluated by AFM-IR and nanoindentation (NI)

Abstract The effects of the penetration of polymeric diphenyl methane diisocyanate (pMDI) on the chemical structure as well as the static and dynamic mechanical properties of wood cell walls (CWs) were investigated by atomic force microscopy with infrared radiation (AFM-IR) and nanoindentation (NI). Results indicated that the possible penetration of some pMDI molecules into the CW affected the mechanical properties of wood CW significantly. The physical and chemical interactions between pMDI and CW may strengthen the connections between the cell-wall materials and thus improved the static elastic modulus and short-term creep resistance of the CW. The elastic modulus ( E r ) of CWs was increased from 16.5 to 17.7 GPa; the creep ratio of the CWs decreased by 15% after the penetration of pMDI. Dynamic NI properties indicated that the effective penetration of pMDI had a positive effect on the reduced storage modulus ( E r ′), whereas it negatively affected the loss modulus ( E r ″) and the damping coefficient (tan δ ) of wood CW in a large frequency scale.