Cellulose Lab Report

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Liquid crystal phases obtained from cellulose were observed by Chanzy et al.[17] in 1980. The authors were able to produce films and fibres from a solution of cellulose in a number of organic solvents of the cyclic amine family, with a concentration in cellulose ranging from 20% to 55% depending on the cellulose source and on the average degree of polymerization. X-ray diffraction of the fibres, obtained from the solution heated to 110ºC and subsequently regenerated in methanol or water, showed a high degree of orientation of cellulose type II that was not present in fibres obtained from the isotropic solution. The fact that orientation of the cellulose fibres, produced from the mesophase, was similar to what is observed in high strength polymers such as rayon directed researchers to the possibility of producing cellulose fibres with enhanced mechanical properties that could rival with other…show more content…
This work also reports the determination of the critical concentration for the formation of the mesophase for the different cellulose derivatives depending on the solvent used and temperature. It was found that the critical concentration for each of the studied polymers depends on the type of solvent; critical concentration values for the HPC ranged from 0.21 g/ml in dichloacetic acid, 0.30 g/ml in acetic acid, 0.38 g/ml in dimethylacetamide and 0.42 g/ml in water or ethyl alcohol. While for CAB the critical concentration in dimethylacetamide is 0.38 g/ml, in acetic acid is 0.46 g/ml and in methyl ethyl ketone is 0.50 g/ml. All these results were summarized in literature (see for example [6][5]) in order to stress that the interaction of the cellulosic chain with the solvent affects the flexibility of the polymer chain and the formation of the lyotropic

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