SPHERULITIC PRECIPITATION OF CELLULOSE FROM AMINE-OXIDE SOLUTIONS

In the past few years, amine-oxide solvents for cellulose have been the focus of several studies. A liquid amine-oxide solvent can also be obtained by combining amine oxides. An example of such a solvent is the combination of N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO) and N,N-dimethyl-ethanolamine-N-oxide (DMEAO). This report focuses on the dissolution of cellulose with DMEAO/NMMO solvent mixtures that are liquid at room temperature. It is shown that spherulites of cellulose can be obtained from a metastable cellulose solution in a suitable amine-oxide solvent mixture. The cellulose-amine oxide system offers interesting possibilities of texturing cellulose and may have useful applications for the development of new products and technologies for cellulose.