ISSN 1017-2548(Print)
ISSN 2234-8530(Online)
Volume 42, Number 2
JKCSEZ 42(2)
April 20, 1998 

A new sampling and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) method for the analysis of underivatized cellulose are established. In this method, cellulose materials are first dissolved in N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMMO) and diluted by adding dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) to make the sample solutions of about 0.1% in 50/50 NMMO/DMSO (w/w). Sample solutions are analyzed using a glucose-treated divinylbenzene (DVB) SEC column and DMSO containing 0.05M LiBr and 2.5% blank as the eluant. The flow rate was constant at 1 mL/min and the whole SEC system including the column was heated at 80℃ to reduce the viscosity of DMSO. Addition of 0.05 M LiBr eliminated SEC baseline drifting, and addition of 2.5% blank seems to reduce the interaction between the sample and the column packing. SEC molecular weights were determined using a calibration curve constructed from a series of narrow pullulan standards, and they were used to measure the degree of degradation during two different pulp-to-sponge processings.