Molecular weight characterization of wood pulp cellulose: Dissolution and size exclusion chromatographic analysis

Wood pulp celluloses dissolved in N,N,-dimethylacetamide-lithium chloride solubilized cellulose components without prior extraction or derivatization and resulted in stable solution. Optimum dissolution conditions depended highly on the molecular weight, crystallinity and lignin content of the sample. Size exclusion chromatography with polystyrene standards provided molecular weight distributions. The data showed different molecular weight distributions, peak locations, and molecular weights for each sample and revealed whether random or uniform depolymerization had occurred during processing.