Nano-Structure Roughening on Poly (Lactic Acid) PLA Substrates: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Surface Morphology Characterization

Scanningelectron microscopy (SEM) has been utilized  to examine  the morphology and topography alterations  in the surface of Poly(Lactic Acid)(PLA) fabrics due to UV/Ozoneirradiation. In the past decade, a growing attention in the usage of “Green Techniques” in industrial applications has been observed owing to many benefits such as low impurities and their relatively low cost to substitute the conventional processes.The effects of UV/Ozone irradiation along  with the pretreatments with distilled water, hydrogen peroxide, and hydrogen peroxide/sodium silicate solutions on the surface morphology of the PLA fibers by means of SEM were investigated and the images were compared with that of virgin untreated samples.The observations presented dramatically increase in insurface roughness andsurface area of the samples after the treatment. Nano-size roughening (827 nm) has been clearly observed on the samples. The changes in morphology mainly surface roughness and surface area, on the PLA fabrics surface due to UV/Ozone irradiation seem to be due mainly to the intensified etching effect of the UV/Ozone process and these alterations maximized by the pretreatment of the fabrics with the hydrogen peroxide/sodium silicate solution.