title: Polymorphic transformation of cellulose I to cellulose II by alkali pretreatment and urea as an additive.
abstract: The effect on crystalline structure transformation from cellulose I to cellulose II polymorph was studied of the cotton linter treated with NaOH with and without urea as an additive, analyzed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction analysis. Cotton linter treated with increasing NaOH concentration showed at 15 wt% sudden transformation from cellulose I to cellulose II polymorph. But when urea 5 wt% was used as additive along with 15 wt% NaOH concentration the magnitude of the transformation reduced largely. The crystallinity index showed a gradual decrease with increasing concentration of NaOH. The crystallinity index showed a gradual decrease with increasing concentration of NaOH with or without addition of urea, nevertheless with addition of urea a further slight more transformation was also observed.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Advanced Studies in Chemistry of Forest Products, Forest Research Institute, P.O. New Forest, Dehra Dun 248006, India. guptapk@icfre.org
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Vanshi
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Uniyal
authors.forename: Sanjay
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Naithani