Cellulose spherulitic structure

FT-IR and FT-NIR Imaging of the Spherulitic Structure of PolyP-Hydroxy-Butyrate) and Cellulose Acetate Butyrate Blends... 

This structure is completely different from the 2D structure of the spherulite composed of fibrous bacterial cellulose. TEM observations demonstrated that the negative-type spherulites are composed of thin crystal plates approximately 8 nm thick, in which the cellulose chains are aligned vertically to the plate, having a cellulose 1 allomorph. These high-order structures of cellulose are formed only via the polymerization of j8-CF. 

Light microscopy observations revealed that the product consists of spherulites from 5 to 50 fxm in diameter composed of lamellar elements, or platelet crystals. SEM studies showed a porous surface structure of the spherulites. An X-ray diffraction diagram contained two strong diffraction rings whose d-spacings were calculated as 0.587 nm and 0.417 nm, leading to a monoclinic unit cell with a = 0.834 nm, b = 0.825 nm, c = 2.04 nm, and y = 90.5°. The dimensions of the ab plane are similar to those of cellulose I, but the length of the c-axis is nearly twice that of cellulose I. 

---