FORMATION OF FREE RADICALS IN PHOTOIRRADIATED CELLULOSE AND RELATED COMPOUNDS.

Abstract

Free-radical formation in various modifications of celluloses, namely, wood cellulose I, II, III, and IV, rayon cellulose, amorphous cellulose, cotton linters, and absorbent cotton, irradiated with UV light, has been studied by means of ESR spectroscopy at 77 K. Various types of free radicals were generated from these samples. The line shapes and the signal intensities of the ESR spectra depended greatly upon the degree of crystallinity, the lattice type, and the arrangement of the molecules in cellulose. The effect of degree of crystallinity and the amount of sensitizer (Fe**3** plus ) absorbed revealed that photochemical reactions in cellulose occurred exclusively in the amorphous regions of the polymer. Free radicals formed in these samples behaved distinctly upon a warm-up process. Phenomena of radical migration and formation of new radicals were observed from the sensitized samples of rayon cellulose and amorphous cellulose.