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Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy and (dispersive) confocal Raman microscopy have been applied to quantitatively and qualitatively describe the local distribution of chemical moieties of poly(styrene- co -maleimide) coatings on paper substrates containing different amount of imide. In parallel, local coating defects have been imaged for a better understanding of the influence of the coating composition on homogeneity at macro- to microscale levels. From FT-Raman spectroscopy, the imide content was calculated in quantitative agreement with previous thermoanalytical data. From dispersive spectroscopy, the measuring parameters were optimized for single-point measurements including signals of the coating and macropoint measurements including more intense signals of the paper. The large surface maps (5 × 5 mm 2 ) provided good quantification for the lateral distribution of imide moieties and coverage for coatings with different thickness and imide content, based on relative intensities of imide/styrene and imide/cellulose bands. The inhomogeneities were related to the formation of surface patterns for coatings with high viscosity and presence of non-imidized residues. From detailed surface maps (1 × 1 mm 2 ), sensitive Raman bands were selected to describe variations in imide and styrene concentrations, conformations and interactions with fillers and cellulose. Based on data from Raman analysis, interactions between nanoparticles and cellulose possibly happened through hydrogen bonding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In parallel with the development of nanoparticle coatings for protection of paper substrates, detailed descriptions of the surface topography with micro- to nanoscale roughness features are needed. In this work, papers have been coated with poly(styrene-co-maleic anhydride) nanoparticles including different types of vegetable oils and the surface roughness was evaluated at 2000 × 2000 μm 2 to 0.2 × 0.2 μm 2 length scales by combining non-contact optical profilometry (NCP) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The relationships between roughness data were studied for statistical roughness parameters, spatial roughness parameters and in the frequency domain. In order to compare AFM roughness more accurately, the original images were flattened to remove effects of the underlaying fibrous substrate and highlight features of the nanoparticle coating. More detailed information on the coating topography could be obtained by considering bearing ratio curves and histograms, where it was concluded that the oil-filled coatings form a rather thin and continuous coating that closely follows the shape of the cellulose fibers. The relation between statistical roughness parameters from NCP and AFM follows an exponential trend with relatively low coefficient of determination. The increase in surface roughness with length scale showed a transition point attributed to short- and long-range surface features. Therefore, the correlation length was used as a spatial roughness parameter that provides a successful extrapolation of the average roughness over different length scales in a double logarithmic diagram with very high coefficient of determination. Based on the power spectral density, it was difficult to exactly distinguish between the different types of SMI/oil coatings, as they include similar nanoscale features. The frequency roughness parameters were better suited for extrapolation than statistical roughness parameters but little less efficient than the spatial roughness parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]