Synthesis and characterization of carboxymethylcelluloses (CMC) from non-wood fibers I.Accessibility of cellulose fibers and CMC synthesis

This paper explores the production of carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) fromseveral bleached cellulose pulps obtained from non-wood species. The chemicalcomposition (α-cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin content), the degreeofswelling, viscosity, solubility in concentrated NaOH and crystallinity ofsoda/AQ cellulose pulps from abaca, jute, sisal, linen and Miscanthussinensis were determined. The pulps were carboxymethylated by one andtwo successive reaction steps in aqueous medium under identical conditions. Thedegree of substitution (DS) of CMC was found to be dependent upon the source ofthe cellulose pulp, but generally it was close to 1 with one etherificationtreatment and around 2 after the second. The molar mass of CMC was found to bedependent on the initial intrinsic viscosity of the cellulose pulp. The weightaverage molar mass of our CMCs ranged from 1.5 × 105 to2.8 × 105. Increasing the DS up to 2 improved the CMC solubility, butviscosity slightly decreased due to a slight degradation of the polymer.