IDENTIFICATION AND SURFACE-STRUCTURE OF CRYSTALLINE CELLULOSE STUDIEDBY ATOMIC-FORCE MICROSCOPY

A combination of molecular modelling and atomic force microscopy (APM) techniques was used to study the surface structure of crystalline cel lulose, Two-dimensional Fourier. analysis of the AFM raw data gave cry stal parameters as well as a highly filtered inverse-transformed image . Molecular modelling was used to generate Connolly surfaces based on electron diffraction data for crystalline cellulose, The modelled surf aces were used to interpret the experimental AFM images, Monoclinic (1 $($) over bar$$ 10) crystal faces were identified. The method used en ables the structural analysis of cellulose surfaces at the molecular l evel, where all biological processes involving cellulose take place.