Thermal behavior of cellulose and some cellulose derivatives

Cellulose, cyanoethyl cellulose, grafted cellulose, and grafted cyanoethyl cellulose derivatives of different nitrogen contents underwent thermal treatment. Nitrogen content and the treatment during preparation played a role in the thermal behavior of the cellulose derivatives. Increasing the nitrogen content resulted in a decrease in the decomposition temperature of cellulose derivatives. Also, the cyanoethyl cellulose, although it had a lower nitrogen content than grafted cellulose, had a decomposition temperature lower than grafted cellulose. The rate constant (min(-1)) of weight loss caused by thermal degradation decreased by increasing the nitrogen content and it has the following order: cellulose > cyanoethyl cellulose > grafted cellulose > grafted cyanoethyl cellulose. The activation energy had the following order: cellulose > grafted cellulose > cyanoethyl cellulose > > grafted cyanoethyl cellulose. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.