Authors: Yan Li Guozhu Li Yunling Zou Qingjun Zhou Xiaoxue Lian
Publish Date: 2013/12/18
Volume: 21, Issue: 1, Pages: 301-309
Abstract
Cellulose nanofibers with a diameter of 70 nm and lengths of approximately 400 nm were fabricated from partly mercerized cotton fibers by acid hydrolysis Morphological evolution of the hydrolyzed cotton fibers was investigated by powder Xray diffraction Fourier transform infrared analysis and field emission scanning electron microscopy The XRD results show that the cellulose I was partially transformed into cellulose II by treatment with 15 NaOH at 150° for 3 h The crystallinity of this partially mercerized sample was lower than the samples that were converted completely to cellulose II by higher concentrations of NaOH The intensities of all of the diffraction peaks were noticeably increased with increased hydrolysis time Fourier transform infrared results revealed that the chemical composition of the remaining nanofibers of cellulose I and II had no observable change after acidic hydrolysis and there was no difference between the hydrolysis rates for cellulose I or II The formation of cellulose nanofibers involves three stages netlike microfibril formation then short microfibrils and finally nanofibersThe work was jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Civil Aviation Administration of China grant no 61079010 We are also grateful for the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 3122013P001 The authors thank Alfred D French for constructive advice on the preparation of the paper
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