Authors: Torlopov M.A. , Mikhaylov V.I., Udoratina E.V., Aleshina L.A. , Prusskii A.I. , Tsvetkov N.V. , Krivoshapkin P.V.
The novel system [acetic acid/phosphotungstic acid (H3PW12O40)/octanol] was proposed for catalytic solvolysis of cellulose and for obtaining cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). Several alternative experiments involving mixtures with different compositions were carried out; reaction time was also varied. CNC particles from cotton, linen, softwood and hardwood cellulose were prepared in the experiments performed for 40 min in the presence of 0.25 mol% of the heteropolyacid. CNC samples were characterized by transmission electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, X-ray diffraction analysis, and thermogravimetric analysis. It was established that the resulting nanoparticles had high crystallinity and rod-like shape; their length varied from 160 to 400 nm (cotton CNC had the shortest length, and linen CNC had the longest length), and CNC thickness ranged from 6 to 10 nm. Thermal stability of CNC was lower than that of initial celluloses and decreasing in the following sequence: cotton > softwood > hardwood > linen cellulose.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-017-1624-z
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