Gel-Permeation Properties of Cellulose

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Abstract
The gel permeation technique, initially investigated for measuring the pore structure of cotton cellulose decrystallized by ball-milling, has been adapted for application to the study of cotton in fibrous form. The crystalline cotton has an apparent internal solvent volume, in pores permeable by solutes of decreasing molecular weights, approximately 53% of that of decrystallized cellulose. The molecular-weight limit of permeability was 2900, compared to approximately 1900 for the decrystallized material. Mercerization of the fibrous cotton increased the apparent internal solvent volume by approximately 60%, but decreased the limit of permeability to a molecular weight of about 2200. These results illustrate the utility of the chromatographic gel permeation method for measuring changes in the pore structure of fibrous cotton produced by various modifications.