Affiliation:
1. Southern Regional Research Laboratory, New Orleans, Louisiana
Abstract
The acid-catalyzed, heterogeneous hydrolysis of a highly methylated cotton cellulose has been investigated, with particular attention to the effect of incorporating a wetting agent in the hydrolysis medium. It was found that the amount of fast-reacting material was small when the aqueous acid did not contain a wetting agent, but was increased severalfold in the presence of an active wetting agent. The rate constant for the slow-reacting material was also increased by the wetting agent. The minimum viscosity reached during hydrolysis was the same in the presence or in the absence of the wetting agent.
Subject
Polymers and Plastics,Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous)