The residual amide content of cellulose sequentially solvent-exchanged and then vacuum-dried

Most celluloses are soluble in 8 mass % lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide (LiCl/DMAc) and/or 8 mass % LiCl/1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (LiCl/DMI) with solvent-exchange treatment from water to DMAc or DMI through acetone. In this study, the residual DMAc or DMI adsorbed on celluloses after the solvent-exchange and then vacuum-drying at 60 °C for 48 h was determined by UV spectroscopy and elementary analysis. Significant amounts of DMI or DMAc remain in the solvent-exchanged celluloses even after vacuum drying: about 1.2 mmol/g and 1.0 mmol/g for DMI and DMAc, respectively. Thus, corrections of molecular-mass parameters of celluloses, which were reported in previous literatures based on the assumption that no residual amides are present in the solvent-exchanged and then vacuum-dried celluloses, are needed.