0000000000012795
AUTHOR
Sergej Striouk
Fractionation of unsubstituted cellulose from solutions in either Ni-tren or (N,N-dimethylacetamide + LiCl)
Starting from solutions of unsubstituted cellulose (Avicel PH101, M w = 30.1 kg/mol and M w /M n = 3 or Solucell 500, M w = 230 kg/mol, M w /M n = 2.8) in either Nitren (0.8 M aqueous solution of the dihydroxotris(2-aminoethly)amine nickel(II) complex) or in a mixed solvent DMAc+LiCl (consisting of N,N-dimethylacetamide plus lithium chloride) it was investigated whether the segregation of a second phase caused by the addition of suitable precipitants leads to polymer fractionation. With Ni-tren the long chains accumulate in the precipitate formed upon the addition of sulfuric acid; as the pH falls below 9, the solution is free of cellulose. Nevertheless this route option for fractionation m…
Fractional dissolution of “solid” unsubstituted cellulose
Activated cellulose (Solucell, DP w = 1400) was extracted stepwise at room temperatures by means of mixed solvents consisting of N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc) and LiCl, starting with a salt concentration of 1 wt.-% and increasing it in increments of 1 wt.-% up to 7 wt.-%. Upon the regeneration of the thus obtained cellulose fractions by pouring the solutions dropwise into a large surplus of water, part of the mixed solvent is occluded in the polymer. For that reason the cellulose samples were purified by redissolving them in Ni-tren and by a second precipitation. This process, however, leads to pronounced polymer degradation. For that reason we have used a spinning nozzle to press the extrac…