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Synthesis, Characterization, and Gas Permeation Properties

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General Introduction<br />

The synthesis of cellulose nitrate laid the foundations for the chemical derivatization<br />

of the inexhaustible natural polymer followed by the synthesis of first thermoplastic<br />

polymer called celluloid in 1870, marking a milestone in the history of polymer<br />

science that revolutionized our modern life style. 7,8 Since then there became an<br />

avalanche of man-made or regenerated cellulose fibers based on wood pulp rather than<br />

native cellulose fibers, for textiles <strong>and</strong> technical products. Rayon is the oldest<br />

regenerated cellulosic fiber having been in commercial production since 1880s in<br />

France, where it was originally developed as a cheap alternative to silk, followed by<br />

the viscose process, currently the most important large scale technical process in fiber<br />

production, 9 <strong>and</strong> finally by the Lyocell process, an industrial breakthrough opening<br />

new frontiers in the field of environment-friendly fiber technologies. 10,1a<br />

By far now, the ester <strong>and</strong> ether derivatives of cellulose (exemplified in<br />

Schemes 2 <strong>and</strong> 3) have been lauded as the trail-blazing c<strong>and</strong>idates of cellulose<br />

Cell O CH2�CH 2�CN<br />

Cyanoethyl Cellulose<br />

Scheme 3. A Few Examples of Commercial Ethers<br />

NaOH,<br />

CN<br />

Cell O R<br />

R = CH3 Methyl Cellulose<br />

R = CH3�CH 2 Ethyl Cellulose<br />

HO<br />

OH<br />

NaOH,<br />

R<br />

O<br />

O<br />

HO<br />

NaOH,<br />

R�Cl<br />

Cell OH<br />

Cell O CH 2 �CH�O�CH 2 �CH�OH<br />

5<br />

O<br />

R R<br />

R = H Hydroxyethyl Cellulose<br />

R = CH 3 Hydroxypropyl Cellulose<br />

m<br />

n<br />

NaOH,<br />

ClCH 2COO - Na +<br />

Cell O CH2COO Carboxymethyl Cellulose<br />

-Na +

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