Hydrodynamic properties and conformational characteristics of low-substituted carboxymethyl cellulose in solution

High-speed sedimentation, diffusion, and viscometry were employed to study the polymer-homologous series of nonfractionated samples and the fractions of carboxymethyl cellulose with the average degree of substitution 0.6 in solutions in a 10-fold diluted aqueous cadoxene. Problems pertinent to complex formation and polyelectrolyte effects were: discussed. The extent of coiling and the draining of macromolecules were characterized within the framework of the wormlike-chain model using the Kuhn segment (A = 1.5 +/- 1 nm) and the chain hydrodynamic diameter d (0.7 +/- 0.2 nm). The relationship between these parameters and the degree of cellulose carboxymethylation was established.