A Facile Way for Preparation of Cellulose Beads With High Homogeneity, Low Crystallinity, and Tunable - Internal Structure

The preparation of cellulose beads has attracted more and more attention in the application of advanced green materials. To obtain uniform and controllable cellulose beads, the dissolving pulp was dissolved in NMMO, and the cellulose beads were regenerated in various coagulation baths (water, alcohol, acid, NMMO, etc.) by phase conversion method. Results show that the crystal form of regenerated cellulose changes from cellulose I to cellulose II. NMMO swelling cellulose beads present low crystallinity and low water holding capacity. The coagulation mechanism of cellulose beads was clarified by a laser confocal microscopy. It is found that the whole coagulation process was from outside to inside gradually. It is a green and facile method for preparing cellulose beads with different structures and properties, which can be widely used in biomedicine, energy storage materials, and protein chromatography.