The miscibility of cellulose-polyethylene glycol blends

Blends of cellulose (CELL) with polyethylene glycol (PEG) were prepared from a mixed solution in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO)-paraformaldehyde (PF) by coagulation in a nonsolvent. The state of miscibility of the blends obtained over the composition range of 95/5 to 30/70 was characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The WAXD and DSC results indicate that the crystallinity and phase transition temperature of PEG within blends decreased with increasing content of CELL. The analysis of phase transition temperature depression shows that CELL and PEG within the blends were miscible. The investigation with Fourier transform infrared FIR) spectroscopy demonstrated that there was a strong intermolecular hydrogen bond between these two components, which perhaps was the intrinsic reason why CELL and PEG exhibited a high level of miscibility.