Nucleation mechanism and growth behavior of nano-arrays on plant fibers via sol-gel process

Nucleation mechanism and growth behavior of nano-arrays on plant fibers via sol-gel process | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Nucleation mechanism and growth behavior of nano-arrays on plant fibers via sol-gel process Xuan Liu This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776896/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Nano-deposition is emerging as an effective strategy to endow plant fibers(PFs)with the desirable surface and mechanical properties. In this work, we elaborate on the effects of the surface features of PFs and the sol-gel process parameters on nano-array deposition, thus reveal the underlying mechanisms of in-situ nucleation and growth behavior. For the PFs with the carboxymethyl pre-treatment (PFs-COOH), (1) the increased amorphous region provides the access for the deposition solution to react with PFs-COOH; (2) The introduced carboxyl groups help the heterogeneous deposition of nano-arrays by promoting the interaction between PFs-COOH and nano-arrays; (3) The concave structure of the surface flaws decreases the Gibbs free energy of heterogeneous nucleation, creating the suitable deposition sites for the layer-by-layer self-assembled nano-arrays. For the sol-gel process parameters, the precursor concentration regulates the supersaturation of the reaction solution, which provides driving force for the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of nano-arrays; The ammonia concentration controls the morphologies of nano-deposition including the thin nano-gel, well-aligned nano-arrays and aggregated nano-particles; The reaction time relates to the nucleation and growth cycle of nano-arrays. Based on the grey relational analysis, the effect of process parameters on the particle size is as follows: reaction time < precursor concentration < basic catalyst. The cooperation of the surface features of PFs and the sol-gel process parameters makes the well-aligned nano-arrays fill up the surface flaws of PFs, achieving the ideal controlling effect. Our work offers a theoretic basis for the effective preparation of PFs with the excellent properties. Plant fibers Nano-arrays In-situ deposition Nucleation mechanism Growth behavior Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Supplementary Files Supplement.docx Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5776896","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":398790406,"identity":"b82ee264-5557-49e2-aaa6-564340a247d4","order_by":0,"name":"Xuan Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA70lEQVRIie3Rv0oDQRDH8VkW9prxrrA5iX/wAYQ9FoLFkmfJERibK3yEOw7GJg+QSl/BRzgdTCXYWlhEBNNemSKI6SO32lnsp55v8WMAoug/0tl606M/NUnTrHrrJ+EkQThaHJNLUdpicU2zcJIhjNBLeZtf8SH2j6oOFRftQWexopKhZO1tpyGRp/uhZCzpdJo/e8fwwB+VfUsBiV6HE7BdMacTVs2Nq+ynhhzHoaSoyy9RrBWPLq2oOpyggw7lnM0ugd8lhlSN5AyqtphbmpnglhdZ6u3ulWd36/fVZusnWSLLwWSf+dt5FEVR9JNv0k5LErnd+ZYAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Naval University of Engineering","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Xuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-01-07 01:23:08","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776896/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776896/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":73777299,"identity":"d8ab2e33-8d51-43b2-a2af-59098f745cc6","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-14 14:39:01","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1037253,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5776896/v1_covered_077c418a-4f23-4223-b607-67f40eb3f3d3.pdf"},{"id":73385888,"identity":"3521ce32-6f06-4449-a810-cbf3a53802eb","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-01-09 11:56:47","extension":"docx","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":13020017,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Supplement.docx","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5776896/v1/f118a5285524c1b7354cab32.docx"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Nucleation mechanism and growth behavior of nano-arrays on plant fibers via sol-gel process","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Plant fibers, Nano-arrays, In-situ deposition, Nucleation mechanism, Growth behavior","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776896/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5776896/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eNano-deposition is emerging as an effective strategy to endow plant fibers(PFs)with the desirable surface and mechanical properties. In this work, we elaborate on the effects of the surface features of PFs and the sol-gel process parameters on nano-array deposition, thus reveal the underlying mechanisms of in-situ nucleation and growth behavior. For the PFs with the carboxymethyl pre-treatment (PFs-COOH), (1) the increased amorphous region provides the access for the deposition solution to react with PFs-COOH; (2) The introduced carboxyl groups help the heterogeneous deposition of nano-arrays by promoting the interaction between PFs-COOH and nano-arrays; (3) The concave structure of the surface flaws decreases the Gibbs free energy of heterogeneous nucleation, creating the suitable deposition sites for the layer-by-layer self-assembled nano-arrays. For the sol-gel process parameters, the precursor concentration regulates the supersaturation of the reaction solution, which provides driving force for the heterogeneous nucleation and growth of nano-arrays; The ammonia concentration controls the morphologies of nano-deposition including the thin nano-gel, well-aligned nano-arrays and aggregated nano-particles; The reaction time relates to the nucleation and growth cycle of nano-arrays. Based on the grey relational analysis, the effect of process parameters on the particle size is as follows: reaction time\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;precursor concentration\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;basic catalyst. The cooperation of the surface features of PFs and the sol-gel process parameters makes the well-aligned nano-arrays fill up the surface flaws of PFs, achieving the ideal controlling effect. 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