Comparative analysis of the characteristics of supramolecular structures of dry and swollen cotton fibers makes it possible to differentiate structural regions accessible to water. The revealed features of water desorption from cotton cellulose (exceptionally low rates at the final stages, presence of residual moisture) are related to the removal of water, which is localized in the regions of the crystalline phase disorganized upon drying. The fact of incomplete moisture removal from cotton fibers at T < 325 K is interpreted from the stand point of the frozen molecular mobility in the microsurroundings of sorption sites, which are located at the defects of crystallites, at the final stage of the desorption process. A marked contribution from the recrystal lization of disorganized regions in the surface layer of crystallites to the thermal effect of the interaction between water and cotton cellulose at low water content is established.

and A. P. MoryganovIt was shown that the increase in the accessibility of cotton cellulose to water in drying is due to perturbations of the long-range order in the surface layer of crystallites. The necessity of quantitatively considering the structural changes in calculations of sorption values was demonstrated. The correlation of some features of the sorption behavior of cellulose materials in processes that include frequently repeated wetting and drying operations with the probable character of formation of accessible sections in the surface layer of the crystalline phase was noted.Studying the cellulose-water system has sustained continuous interest for many years. Information on this is important not only because of its theoretical value, but it also has direct practical significance, since cellulose materials are in close contact with aqueous and water-vapor media, primarily with atmospheric moisture, in all stages of production, processing, and use. Valuable information on the reaction of the components of the system is obtained in analyzing the water-vapor sorption isotherms for cellulosic materials [1]. Calculations of the different sorption characteristics using these isotherms usually assume constancy of the content of sorbing regions in the cellulose during water absorption. Moreover, the effect of a change in the supramolecular structure of different cellulosic materials during wetting has been reliably established with different methods of investigation (x-ray structural analysis, IR spectroscopy, dilatometry) [1][2][3][4]. The important effect of the moisture content on the ratio of amorphous and crystalline phases in cellulose should undoubtedly be reflected in the equilibrium and kinetic characteristics of its reaction with water. In this research, we established the cause of the dependence of these features of the sorption behavior of cotton cellulose which are related to the structural rearrangements that take place when the moisture content changes.The sorption measurements were performed by vacuum gravimetry using a quartz spring. We investigated scoured and bleached cotton fabric; samples of this fabric had previously been used in x-ray diffraction studies [4,5]. This make it possible to use the established parameters of the supramolecular structure in calculations of the sorption characteristics.The reaction of oxidation of cellulose with atmospheric oxygen at 150°C was also used to study the character of the structural changes that take place when cotton cellulose is wet and dried. The degree of thermooxidative degradation of the samples of cotton fabric was evaluated with the yellowness parameter, defined as coordinate b of the color field of the CIE Lab colorimetric system. It was calculated with the spectral reflection curve of thermooxidized samples taken on a reflection spectrophotometer in the 400-700 nm wavelength range.The water-vapor sorption isotherm for the investigated fabric sample at 20°C is shown in Fig. 1. In determining such a sorption value as the average hydration numbe...