Structure Elucidation of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Homogenously Prepared from NaOH/Urea Aqueous Solution

Hydroxypropyl celluloses(HPC) were homogenously synthesized by the reaction of cellulose with propylene oxide in NaOH/urea aqueous solution.Water-soluble HPC with molar degree of substitution(MSNMR) in the range of 0.52~0.78 was prepared from microcrystalline cellulose,cotton linters,and spruce sulfite pulp.The structure of the HPC samples was characterized by means of FT-IR,NMR,gas chromatography(GC),and size exclusion chromatography(SEC) analyses.Three types of cellulose samples with different molecular weights were found to dissolve well in the NaOH/urea solvent with no obvious differences in reactivity and regioselectivity.The relative reactivity of hydroxyl groups in the glycosyl unit was in the following order:O-6>O-2>O-3.In addition,the results of the study indicated that the tandem reaction during hydroxypropylation could be ignored.

Development of Morus alba Reinforced Poly-Lactic Acid with Elevated Mechanical and Thermal Properties

This research investigates the mechanical and thermal properties of Morus alba combined with polylactic acid in comparison with other natural fibers. The study uses three different fiber and PLA compositions - 20%, 30%, and 40% respectively - to produce composite materials. In addition, another composite with the same fiber volume is treated with a 4% NaOH solution to improve mechanical properties. The composites are processed by twin-screw extrusion, granulation, and injection molding. Tensile strength measurements of raw fibers and NaOH-treated fibers were carried out using a single-fiber tensile test with a gauge length of 40 mm. It was observed that the NaOH surface treatment increases the resistance against tensile loading and exhibited improved properties for raw fiber strands. The diameter of the fibers was measured using optical microscopy. During this research, flexural tests, impact tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and heat deflection temperature measurements (HDT) were conducted to evaluate the mechanical and thermal properties of the developed composite samples. The results indicate that the mechanical properties of NaOH-treated Morus alba-reinforced polylactic acid outperform both virgin PLA samples and untreated Morus alba samples.

Preparative Optimization of Cellulose Microspheres Applied as Supports for High-Performance Liquid Chromatography

The aim of this work is optimizing the techniques to prepare pure cellulose microspheres, which are used as packing adsorbents for high-performance liquid chromatography. Thereupon, cellulose was dissolved in a pre-cooled NaOH/urea solution, from which various-size microspheres were prepared. The volume-average diameters were controlled approximately at 30 p,m, 8 ~tm and 4 pm grades when cyclohexane, liquid paraffin and pump oil were used as dispersants, respectively. The present investigations reveal that higher viscosity dispersant is suitable for the preparation of smaller-size microspheres, while larger size microspheres are prepared preferably using lower-viscosity dispersant. The chiral stationary phase derived from 8 μm grade microspheres can separate the enantiomers of efavirenz.

Investigation of electropolishing characteristics of tungsten in ecofriendly sodium hydroxide aqueous solution

In this study,an eco-friendly electrolyte for electropolishing tungsten and the minimum material removal depth on the electropolished tungsten surface are investigated using an electrochemical etching method.Using a concentrated acid electrolyte,the polarization curve and current density transient are observed.For a NaOH electrolyte,the effects of interelectrode gap and electrolyte concentration on electropolishing are investigated.The differences in electropolishing characteristics are compared among different electrolyte types.Microholes are etched on the electropolished tungsten surface to determine the minimum material removal depth on the tungsten surface.Experimental results indicate the color effect due to a change in the thickness of the oxide film on the tungsten surface after electropolishing with a concentrated acid electrolyte.The surface roughness decreases with the interelectrode gap width owing to the increased current density when using the NaOH electrolyte.However,the electropolishing effect is less prominent with a significantly smaller gap because the generated bubbles are unable to escape from the narrow working gap in time.A material removal depth of less than 10 nm is achieved on the tungsten surface in an area of diameter 300 lm,using the electrochemical etching method.