Two‐dimensional correlation spectroscopy and principal component analysis studies of temperature‐dependent IR spectra of cotton–cellulose

The FTIR spectra were measured for raw Uplands Sicala‐V2 cotton fibers over a temperature range of 40–325°C to explore the temperature‐dependent changes in the hydrogen bonds of cellulose. These cotton–cellulose spectra exhibited complicated patterns in the 3800–2800 cm −1 region and thus were analyzed by both the exploratory principal component analysis (PCA) and two‐dimensional (2‐D) correlation spectroscopy methods. The exploratory PCA showed that the spectra separate into two groups on the basis of thermal degradation of the cotton–cellulose and the consequent breakage of intersheet H‐bonds present in its structure. Frequency variables, which strongly contributed to each principal component highlighted in its loadings plot, were linked to the frequencies assigned to vibrations of the OH groups involved in different kinds of H‐bonds, as well as to vibrations of the CH groups. Deeper insights into reorganization of the temperature‐dependent hydrogen bonding were obtained by 2‐D correlation spectroscopy. Synchronous and asynchronous spectra were analyzed in the temperature ranges of 40 to 150 and 250 to 320°C, the ranges indicated by PCA. Detailed band assignments of the OH stretching region and changes in the patterns of the hydrogen bonding network of the cotton–cellulose were proposed with the aid of the 2‐D correlation spectroscopy analysis. Below 150°C, distinctly different bands assigned to the less stable Iα and the more stable Iβ interchain H‐bonds O6H6…O3′ were observed at about 3230 and 3270 cm −1 , respectively. Evaporation of water entrapped in the cellulose network was examined by means of the band at about 3610 cm −1 . The cooperativity of hydrogen bonds, which play a key role in the cellulose conformation, was monitored by frequencies assigned to intrachain H‐bonds. It was possible to separate the frequencies assigned to the O2H2…O6 and O3H3…O5 intrachain H‐bonds into two separate ranges, the spread of which was controlled by the cooperativity effect. The temperature dependence of the asynchronous spectra indicated that the less stable O3H3…O5 bonds gave rise to an absorption extending from 3300 to 3384 cm −1 , while the more stable O2H2…O6 bonds were characterized by the absorption between 3400 and 3470 cm −1 . The final breaking of the inter‐ and intrachain H‐bonds, which occurs at the higher temperatures, was monitored by the asynchronous peaks at 3533 and 3590 cm −1 , respectively. On the basis of both the exploratory PCA and 2‐D correlation spectroscopy investigations, it was possible to extract well‐defined wavenumber ranges assigned to different kinds of intra‐ and interchain hydrogen bonds, as well as to the free OH groups of the cotton–cellulose. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers (Biospectroscopy) 67: 456–469, 2002