OXIDATION AND AGING OF CELLULOSE

Oxidation of cellulose by chlorine, bromine, hydrogen peroxide and ozo ne and the functional groups formed are reviewed. The roles of the pH and of the nature of the oxidant in the formation of carboxy- and keto -celluloses are discussed. The relationships between the functional gr oups, degradation and stability of the celluloses enable to predict th e aging and storage behavior of the polymer. The ''active'' carbonyls are responsible for the peeling reaction and the formation of the yell ow chromophore in alkaline solutions as well as for the reversion in c olor on aging. The nature of the yellow chromophore, its spectra at se veral pH values, its use for the characterization of cellulose, e.g. t he rapid determination of the degree of polymerization and for the est imation of the primary and secondary degradation of the polymer and it s stability on storage and aging are discussed. The parallelism betwee n the yellowing and the reversion in color is reviewed.