Understanding the conformation of cellulose in aqueous and organic media

The conformation of cellulose derivatives in solution is known to be strongly dependent on solvent type, but there are no systematic studies on how solvent type affects the conformation of cellulose ethers. Here we seek to understand how the solvent properties such as dielectric constant or hydrogen-bonding capacity influence the local conformation of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), a polyelectrolyte with wide applications in industrial formulations. We use the tetrabutyl ammonium salt of CMC (TBACMC) to make the polymer soluble in various organic solvent. Deuterated counterions will be used to contrast match their scattering signal, so that the polymer conformation can be measured directly. The proposal will produce a comprehensive dataset that will allow us to understand how cellulose conformation depends on solvent media.