We studied the structure and its dynamics of formation of two types of cellulose hydrogel, prepared from aqueous (LiOH/Urea) and non-aqueous (LiCl/DMAc) system by introduction of various non-solvents. 13C CP/MAS NMR spectra of never-dried cellulose hydrogels of LiOH/Urea system showed three sharp peaks at 86, 87.5, and 89 ppm, corresponding to C4 in crystalline region, and one broad peak corresponding to C4 in amorphous region. The hydrogel from LiCl/DMAc system, however, only showed one peak from amorphous region at 84 ppm, indicating totally amorphous structure. In addition, emergence of small angle X-ray scattering correlation peak was observed at around q = 0.015 �-1 for LiCl/DMAc system, while no such peak was observed in LiOH/urea system. Our current hypothesis is that the cellulose solution undergoes spinodal decomposition when non-solvents were introduced to LiCl/DMAc system, while gelation proceeds through nucleation and growth of crystalline region in the case of LiOH/urea system.

Cellulose hydrogel: Structure and dynamics of formation

247th National Meeting (2014)

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