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Biodegradation studies of cellulose and its vinylic graft copolymers by thermal analysis and mechanical spectroscopy
Author(s) -
Flaqué C.,
Rodrigo L. Contat,
RibesGreus A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-4628(20000418)76:3<326::aid-app8>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - biodegradation , cellulose , copolymer , biopolymer , polymer chemistry , chemistry , chemical modification , materials science , acrylate , cellulose acetate , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , polymer , engineering
Cotton cellulose with different % NaOH treatments and graft copolymers of cellulose prepared with vinyl acetate (AV) and methyl acrylate (MA), and Ce(IV) ion as an initiator were submitted to biodegradation conditions. Cellulose is a biopolymer consisting solely of glucose units, and, consequently, is also easily biodegradable. Nevertheless, modified cellulose, for example, by graft copolymerization, shows an increased resistance to biodegradation. The aim of this work was to study by calorimetric and dynamic‐mechanical analysis how the chemical modification of cellulose affects its biodegradability. From the obtained results some information has also been deduced about the composition and mechanical behavior of the vinylic grafted chains. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 76: 326–335, 2000