Properties and structure of solvent-spun and viscose-type fibres in the swollen state

The conditioned and wet tensile strength resp. modulus of solvent-spun and viscose-type cellulose fibres was correlated with their crystallite and amorphous orientation factor. It was found that the extrapolation of these tensile properties to the maximum degree of orientation results in identical values of the tensile strength resp. modulus in the conditioned and water swollen state. Proportional to a decreasing orientation factor the loss of strength and modulus by swelling increases. Additionally, a positive correlation was found between the wet tensile strength resp. modulus and the intensity of the interference of the equatorial small-angle x-ray scattering measured in the swollen state. This interference is caused by the elementary fibrils. The intensity of this interference is a measure for the fibrillar character of the swollen fibre structure. The fibrillability of the fibres suspended in water correlates positively with the crystallite orientation factor.Extracts presented at the Conference Cellulose '91 December 2–6, 1991 New Orleans, USA