REGENERATED AND GRAFT COPOLYMER FIBERS FROM STEAM-EXPLODED WHEAT-STRAW - CHARACTERIZATION AND PROPERTIES

Steam explosion treatment has been proven to effectively induce such m arked modifications to the chemical and supramolecular structure of wh eat straw cellulose as to make this cellulose a suitable raw for disso lving processes. Regenerated and poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) and poly(me thyl methacrylate) (PMMA) grafted wheat straw fibers obtained on the l aboratory scale were characterized by various techniques (X-ray diffra ction, cross polarization-magic angle spinning(CP-MAS) C-13 nuclear ma gnetic resonance and vibrational spectroscopy, scanning electron micro scopy, differential scanning calorimetry), and the relationships betwe en the morphological-structural features and physicomechanical and end -use properties have been evidenced. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.