Cellulosic polymers properties

For suspensions primarily stabilized by a polymeric material, it is important to carefully consider the optimal pH value of the product since certain polymer properties, especially the rheological behavior, can strongly depend on the pH of the system. For example, the viscosity of hydrophilic colloids, such as xanthan gums and colloidal microcrystalline cellulose, is known to be somewhat pH- dependent. Most disperse systems are stable over a pH range of 4-10 but may flocculate under extreme pH conditions. Therefore, each dispersion should be examined for pH stability over an adequate storage period. Any... 

The isomeric polysaccharides amylose (a component of starch) and cellulose also show the significance of stereoisomerism on polymer properties. Cellulose and amylose have the structures shown in Fig. 8-8. (Amylopectin, the other component of starch, has the same structure as amylose except that it is branched at carbon 6.) Both are polymers of glucose in which the... 

Polymers are macromolecules built of smaller units called monomers. The process by which they are formed is called polymerization. They may be synthetic (nylon, Teflon, and Plexiglas) or natural (such as the biopolymers starch, cellulose, proteins, DNA, and RNA). Homopolymers are made from a single monomer. Copolymers are made from two or more monomers. Polymers may be linear, branched, or cross-linked, depending on how the monomer units are arranged. These details of structure affect polymers properties. 

Liquid-crystalline solutions and melts of cellulosic polymers are often colored due to the selective reflection of visible fight, originating from the cholesteric helical periodicity. As a typical example, hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is known to exhibit this optical property in aqueous solutions at polymer concentrations of 50-70 wt%. The aqueous solution system is also known to show an LCST-type of phase diagram and therefore becomes turbid at an elevated temperature [184]. 

A second and distinct era in the development of branched macromolecular architecture encompasses the time between 1940 to 1978, or approximately the next four decades. Kuhn 151 published the first report of the use of statistical methods for analysis of a polymer problem in 1930. Equations were derived for molecular weight distributions of degraded cellulose. Thereafter, mathematical analyses of polymer properties and interactions flourished. Perhaps no single person has affected linear and non-linear polymer chemistry as profoundly as P. J. Flory. His contributions were rewarded by receipt of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1974. 

Another way to achieve desirable polymer properties is the modification of preformed polymers. This modification may take place on the reactive sites of the polymer chain through alkylation, hydrolysis, sulfonation, esterification, and other various reactions of polymers. Examples of natural polymers and their modifications are cellulose and its derivatives, chitin and chitosan, and polysaccharides. These are still to this day very important polymers for pharmaceutical applications. 

A popular approach to improve ocular drag bioavailability is to incorporate soluble polymers into an aqueous solution to extend the drug residence time in the cul-de-sac. It is reasoned that the solution viscosity would be increased and hence solution drainage would be reduced. The more commonly used viscolyzing agents include PVA and derivatives of cellulose. Cellulosic polymers, such as methylcellulose, hydroxyethylcellulose (HEC), hydroxypropyl-methylcellulose (HPMC) and hydroxypropylcellulose (HPC), are widely used as viscolyzers showing Newtonian properties. They have common properties ... 

Finally it may be remarked that the dynamic viscoelastic properties of plasticized cellulose derivatives seem to give no evidence of any unusual temperature dependence of the chain conformations. Thus, Landel and Ferry (162, 163, 164) successfully applied the method of reduced variables [see, for example, Ferry (6)] to various concentrated solutions of cellulosic polymers, and found that the temperature reduction factors were quite similar to those for other flexible polymers such as poly(isobutylene). 

The polymer properties of cellulose are usually studied in solution, using solvents, such as CED or Cadoxen (see Section 9.2). On the basis of the solution properties, conclusions can be drawn concerning the average molecular weight, polydispersity, and chain configuration. However, the... 

Based on properties in solution such as intrinsic viscosity and sedimentation and diffusion rates, conclusions can be drawn concerning the polymer configuration. Like most of the synthetic polymers, such as polystyrene, cellulose in solution belongs to a group of linear, randomly coiling polymers. This means that the molecules have no preferred structure in solution in contrast to amylose and some protein molecules which can adopt helical conformations. Cellulose differs distinctly from synthetic polymers and from lignin in some of its polymer properties. Typical of its solutions are the comparatively high viscosities and low sedimentation and diffusion coefficients (Tables 3-2 and 3-3). 

Various theoretical cases of polymer properties were considered in Fig. 6. The values of Ep or Tp used in the simulation are not necessarily those of existing polymers. They were tried in order to illustrate the limits of properties modified by treatments involving no modifications of the cell walls. The case (f), for instance, equivalent to filling the lumens with pure cellulose, is the only one inducing an increase of E /y and a decrease of tan 8 at the same time. 

A new class of water soluble cellulosic polymers currently receiving attention Is characterized by structures with hydrophobic moieties. Such polymers exhibit definite surface activity at alr-llquld and liquid-liquid Interfaces. By virtue of their hydrophobic groups, they also exhibit Interesting association characteristics In solution. In this paper, results are presented on the solution and Interfaclal properties of a cationic cellulosic polymer with hydrophobic groups and Its Interactions with conventional surfactants are discussed. 

Using tensile testing of free films, researchers have shown that plasticizer type and concentration influence the mechanical properties of both acrylic and cellulosic polymers. ° Fig. 10 shows the influence of dibutyl sebacate concentration on the tensile properties of free ethyl cellulose films. ° As the concentration of the... 

Structure of cellulose polymer and determination of molecular weight Pyrolysis of nitrocellulose Thcrmochemical properties of nitrocellulose Mixed esters nitrates and sulphates Stabilization of nitrocellulose Knccht compound Manufacture of nitrocellulose Semi-continuous methodof Bofors-Nobel-Chematur Drying of nitrocellulose Safety in the manufacture of nitrocellulose Starch nitrates (nitrosiarch)... 

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