Dissolution of cellulose in ethylene diamine/salt solvent systems

Investigation of the dissolution of cellulose in Ethylene Diamine (EDA)/Potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) solutions by infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermal analysis (DSC) indicated that changes to the solvent during freeze thaw cycling of mixtures was consistent with increased interaction between cellulose and solvent. Thermal transitions in the system, however, occurred at temperatures outside the range used in thermal cycling to promote dissolution. Further exploration of the dissolution and mixing process indicated that mixing was the limiting step in solution formation. The dissolution of two types of cellulose with different molecular weights (Degree of Polymerization (DP)=210 and >1000) was studied using EDA/KSCN solution as the solvent. The solubility and the dissolution rate of cellulose depended on both the solvent composition and cellulose molecular weight. Cellulose could dissolve faster in the solvent with lower salt concentration but the highest cellulose concentration was obtained in the solvent with 30~35% KSCN. Rheological measurements showed that cellulose solutions exhibited viscous solution behavior at low KSCN concentration but primarily elastic behavior at high salt concentration.