CRYSTALLIZATION OF AMORPHOUS CELLULOSE IN THE FORM OF INCLUSION-COMPOUNDS

The interlattice inclusion compounds (IC) are of essential importance for processing of polymers, particularly cellulose. The merserization stage, for example, which is necessary in the production of hydrated cellulose fibers, films, and ethers, involves the formation of such compounds. The formation of IC is thought to result from the deformation of polymer crystal lattice by the 'guest' molecules. It is generally recognized that native cellulose tends to produce IC because of a 'laminated' pattern of its lattice, whose (101) plane family is the richest in intermolecular hydrogen bonds; whereas weaker bonds along the normal to (101) planes force them to move apart under intracrystal swelling, because of which, the intruding molecules appear located between them. A specific diffraction pattern corresponds to the modified lattice, and X-ray phase analysis is, therefore, conventionally used as the most informative method for the recognizing of such systems. The existing notions of the IC formation mechanism are thus restricted by considering the changes in the crystal phase of the material and neglecting the amorphous regions, the proportion of which in commercial cellulose is large. In the present paper, the principal possibility of producing the IC, with typical X-ray diffraction patterns on the basis of obviously amorphous cellulose, is considered.