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Attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform Infrared spectroscopy analysis of crystallinity changes in lyocell following continuous treatment with sodium hydroxide

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Abstract

Cellulose is a linear 1,4-β-glucan polymer where the units are able to form highly ordered structures, as a result of extensive interaction through intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding of the three hydroxyl groups in each cellulose unit. Alkali has a substantial influence on morphological, molecular and supramolecular properties of cellulose II polymer fibres causing changes in crystallinity. These physical changes were observed herein using ATR-FTIR spectroscopy, following continuous treatment of the cellulose II fabrics with aqueous sodium hydroxide solution under varying condition parameters. Post-treatment, maxima for total crystallinity index and lateral order index, and minima for hydrogen bond intensity, were observed at concentrations of 3.3 and 4.5 mol dm−3 NaOH, when treated at 25 °C and 40 °C, respectively. Under these treatment conditions, it is proposed that maximum molecular reorganisation occurs in the amorphous and quasi-crystalline phases of the cellulose II polymer.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank The University of Leeds and Lenzing AG for the provision of a scholarship to Mr. Široký. The authors would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. Avinash Manian, Dr. Barbora Široká, and Mr. Les Johnson for help with the experimental work and also for fruitful discussion of the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Green Chemistry Group, Centre for Technical Textiles, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Ján Široký & Richard S. Blackburn

  2. Christian Doppler Laboratory for Textile and Fibre Chemistry in Cellulosics, Research Institute of Textile Chemistry and Textile Physics, University of Innsbruck, Höchsterstrabe 73, 6850, Dornbirn, Austria

    Ján Široký & Thomas Bechtold

  3. Lenzing Fibers, Lenzing Aktiengesellschaft, 4860, Lenzing, Austria

    Jim Taylor & Patrick White

Authors
  1. Ján Široký
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  2. Richard S. Blackburn
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  3. Thomas Bechtold
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  4. Jim Taylor
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  5. Patrick White
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Correspondence to Richard S. Blackburn.

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Široký, J., Blackburn, R.S., Bechtold, T. et al. Attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform Infrared spectroscopy analysis of crystallinity changes in lyocell following continuous treatment with sodium hydroxide. Cellulose 17, 103–115 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9378-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-009-9378-x

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