Effects of tribochemical treatments on the integrity of cellulose.

The effects of tribochemical impacts--sonochemical treatments and milling variants--on cellulose were studied, employing multi-detector size exclusion chromatography with group-selective fluorescence labelling ("CCOA method") and diagnostic beta-elimination as the analytical tools. Milling at different temperatures was compared to sonochemical degradation of cellulose by a 24 kHz ultrasound probe system in homogeneous solution. Chain cleavage was generally accompanied by random oxidation of cellulose.

Effect of sonochemical treatments on the integrity and oxidation state of cellulose.

The sonochemical degradation of cellulose by a 24-kHz ultrasound probe system and the oxidative modification of cellulose upon sonication were studied. Both aqueous cellulose suspension (heterogeneous system) as well as cellulose solutions in N,N-dimethylacetamide/LiCl (homogeneous system) were used. In both cases, a significant reduction in the degree of polymerization was observed.