Accessibility of Cotton Cellulose by Deuterium Exchange

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Abstract
Dechant's method for determining the total accessibility of cellulose by exchange with deuterium oxide was modified for routine use with cotton fibers. Deuterated cotton was allowed to re-exchange with water or aqueous sodium hydroxide solution and the deuterium oxide content of the liquid used for re-exchange was determined by measurement of ir absorb ence at 2510 cm 1. Sodium hydroxide solution (20%) was found to bring about re-exchange of that fraction of OD-groups which resist re-exchange with water, as demonstrated by ir spectra of deuterated and rehydrogenated cotton fibers. Ac cessibility to deuterium exchange was determined for selected cotton and rayon fibers and three series of immature cotton fibers. 'I'hese measurements correlated well with measurements of moisture regain and iodine sorption value made to obtain other estimates of the accessibility of the fibers.