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Stable, metastable and unstable cellulose solutions

Gubitosi, Marta LU ; Nosrati, Pegah ; Koder Hamid, Mona ; Kuczera, Stefan LU ; Behrens, Manja A. LU ; Johansson, Eric G. and Olsson, Ulf LU (2017) In Royal Society Open Science 4(8).
Abstract

We have characterized the dissolution state of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) in aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, TBAH(aq), at different concentrations of TBAH, by means of turbidity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The solubility of cellulose increases with increasing TBAH concentration, which is consistent with solubilization driven by neutralization. When comparing the two polymorphs, the solubility of cellulose I is higher than that of cellulose II. This has the consequence that the dissolution of MCC (cellulose I) may create a supersaturated solution with respect to cellulose II. As for the dissolution state of cellulose, we identify three different regimes. (i) In the stable regime, corresponding to concentrations below... (More)

We have characterized the dissolution state of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) in aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, TBAH(aq), at different concentrations of TBAH, by means of turbidity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The solubility of cellulose increases with increasing TBAH concentration, which is consistent with solubilization driven by neutralization. When comparing the two polymorphs, the solubility of cellulose I is higher than that of cellulose II. This has the consequence that the dissolution of MCC (cellulose I) may create a supersaturated solution with respect to cellulose II. As for the dissolution state of cellulose, we identify three different regimes. (i) In the stable regime, corresponding to concentrations below the solubility of cellulose II, cellulose is molecularly dissolved and the solutions are thermodynamically stable. (ii) In the metastable regime, corresponding to lower supersaturations with respect to cellulose II, a minor aggregation of cellulose occurs and the solutions are kinetically stable. (iii) In the unstable regime, corresponding to larger supersaturations, there is macroscopic precipitation of cellulose II from solution. Finally, we also discuss strong alkali solvents in general and compare TBAH(aq) with the classical NaOH(aq) solvent.

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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Cellulose aggregation, Cellulose dissolution, Cellulose regeneration, Small-angle x-ray scattering, Strong alkali solvents, Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide
in
Royal Society Open Science
volume
4
issue
8
article number
170487
publisher
Royal Society Publishing
external identifiers
  • pmid:28878996
  • wos:000408764400042
  • scopus:85028615119
ISSN
2054-5703
DOI
10.1098/rsos.170487
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
065ee10b-8376-4aac-be1f-b9835b2d78fb
date added to LUP
2017-09-26 14:55:20
date last changed
2025-04-15 05:01:19
@article{065ee10b-8376-4aac-be1f-b9835b2d78fb,
  abstract     = {{<p>We have characterized the dissolution state of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) in aqueous tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, TBAH(aq), at different concentrations of TBAH, by means of turbidity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The solubility of cellulose increases with increasing TBAH concentration, which is consistent with solubilization driven by neutralization. When comparing the two polymorphs, the solubility of cellulose I is higher than that of cellulose II. This has the consequence that the dissolution of MCC (cellulose I) may create a supersaturated solution with respect to cellulose II. As for the dissolution state of cellulose, we identify three different regimes. (i) In the stable regime, corresponding to concentrations below the solubility of cellulose II, cellulose is molecularly dissolved and the solutions are thermodynamically stable. (ii) In the metastable regime, corresponding to lower supersaturations with respect to cellulose II, a minor aggregation of cellulose occurs and the solutions are kinetically stable. (iii) In the unstable regime, corresponding to larger supersaturations, there is macroscopic precipitation of cellulose II from solution. Finally, we also discuss strong alkali solvents in general and compare TBAH(aq) with the classical NaOH(aq) solvent.</p>}},
  author       = {{Gubitosi, Marta and Nosrati, Pegah and Koder Hamid, Mona and Kuczera, Stefan and Behrens, Manja A. and Johansson, Eric G. and Olsson, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{2054-5703}},
  keywords     = {{Cellulose aggregation; Cellulose dissolution; Cellulose regeneration; Small-angle x-ray scattering; Strong alkali solvents; Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{08}},
  number       = {{8}},
  publisher    = {{Royal Society Publishing}},
  series       = {{Royal Society Open Science}},
  title        = {{Stable, metastable and unstable cellulose solutions}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170487}},
  doi          = {{10.1098/rsos.170487}},
  volume       = {{4}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}