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Cellulose is one of the most abundant and sustainable biopolymers on earth. Various types of cellulosic materials such as natural fibres, regenerated cellulose fibres, cellulose derivatives and nanocellulose have increasingly been utilised in developing fibre-reinforced polymeric composites. Analysis of surface physicochemical properties of cellulose-based fillers is essential to maximise fibre-matrix interfacial adhesion to obtain excellent mechanical performance. Among different techniques which can be used to investigate the surface science of cellulose-based materials, inverse gas chromatography (IGC) has been proven as a successful technique for characterising the surface activity, evaluating the efficiency of surface modification methods, and predicting the behaviour of final products. IGC is a versatile approach to evaluate surface energy, acidic-basic characteristics, and surface heterogeneity. These key parameters are used in (i) evaluating the efficiency of different surface treatments for adding new functional groups, (ii) determining the compatibility of cellulosic materials with various polymer matrices to ensure optimal fibre-matrix interaction, and (iii) predicting the performance of cellulose-reinforced composites in actual applications. This article provides a concise review on recent progress in using IGC method for surface analysis of different forms of cellulosic materials in the context of fibre-reinforced composites. For future perspective, the IGC technique can be extensively applied in studying cellulosic materials with high application potential in a variety of fields. This review paper will shed light on understanding the surface characteristics of cellulose-based composites and pave the way for their real-world applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The optical properties of a compound structure with metallic nanoparticle and nanohole arrays are numerically investigated by the means of finite-difference time domain method. We report on the observation of multi-valleys in the reflection spectra due to the excitation of surface plasmon (SP) resonant modes of the compound structure. Simulation results show that multiple SP resonances consist of surface plasmon polaritons on the gold film, localized surface plasmons on the nanoparticles, and coupling mode between them. These findings are important for applications utilizing multiple surface plasmon resonances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We provide both experimental and theoretical investigation on extraordinary low transmission through one-dimensional nanoslit and two-dimensional nanohole arrays on ultra-thin metal films. Unambiguous proofs demonstrate that short-range surface plasmon polaritons play a key role leading to this novel phenomenon, which could be useful for creating new polarization filters and other integrated plasmonic components. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extraordinary transmission of the subwavelength gold grating has been investigated by the rigorous coupled-wave analysis and verified by the metal-insulator-metal plasmonic waveguide method. The physical mechanisms of the extraordinary transmission are characterized as the excitation of the surface plasmon polariton modes. The subwavelength grating integrated with the distributed Bragg reflector is proposed to modulate the phase to realize spatial mode selection, which is prospected to be applied for transverse mode selection in the vertical cavity surface-emitting laser. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]