Estimation of the lateral dimensions of cellulose crystallites using 13C NMR signal strengths

Differences in proton rotating-frame spin relaxation rates were exploited to edit the 13C NMR spectra of solid lignocellulosics, separating signals assigned to cellulose crystallites from signals assigned to amorphous material. Clusters of signals at 89 and 85 ppm were assigned to C-4 in the interiors and on the surfaces of cellulose crystallites, respectively. Relative signal areas were used to estimate the weight-averaged lateral dimensions of crystallites, using a model in which crystallites have approximately square cross sections. The same 10 samples were also characterized by wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS). There was a strong correlation (r2 = 0.988) between the two sets of lateral dimensions, but those estimated by WAXS were typically 10% lower than those estimated by NMR. The deviations were attributed to differences in molecular conformations between interior and surface chains, causing broadening of the WAXS peaks. In the case of an eleventh sample containing well-ordered xylan, the NMR and WAXS methods were in good agreement only after exclusion of a xylan signal at 82.6 ppm from the NMR data.