(221d) Dissolution Processing of Cellulose

Nanoscale and mesoscale order in polymers, manifested by chain crystallinity and organization in spherulites or fibers, significantly affects the dissolution of nanostructured polymers, and constrains their subsequent physical or chemical processing.  Cellulosic biomass provides a nice example of a composite material that is recalcitrant to solvents.  The efficient utilization of cellulose as a starting material for the synthesis of high value-added functional polymers and chemicals and also for biofuel production provides the motivation for the current project.  We consider here the transport phenomena governing the dissolution of solid cellulose, e.g., solvent penetration, transformation from crystalline to amorphous domains, specimen swelling, and polymer chain untangling, and analyze the effect of various parameters on the kinetics of dissolution.