Tritium exchange between cellulose and water vapor was used to measure the accessibilities of amylopectin, amylose, regenerated cellulose, \\,ood pulp, bacterial and Valonia cellulose, and cellulose trinitrate using both gas counting and solid counting techniques. The results compare satisfactorily with other accessibility and crystallinity measurements.The incomplete reversibility of the exchange reaction was used t o study directly changcs in the accessibility of regenerated cellulose which occurred during repeated wetting and drying from water. The res~llts indicated that a partial interchange of accessible and inaccessible regions occurs during wetting and drying.
INTRODUCTIONThis paper describes-preliminary experiments which use the exchange reaction of tritium between ccllulose and water to s t i~d y the "accessibility" of cellulose to water vapor, and to measure directly the formation of ne\v inaccessible regions in cell~~lose during successive wetting ancl drying cycles.Deuterium has been used exteilsively as a tracer in the exchange of hydrogen isotopes between ccllulose and water (1-11), but oilly the more recent studies of Frilette, Hanle, and RIIarl; ( 3 ) , 12linin ( 5 ) , and Mann and YIarrinan (S-11) are of value in accessibility studies. T h e excl~ange reaction, which was almost complete in 1 hour, was attributed t o exchange with the hydroxyl hydrogens of the cellulose i~ilits in the amorphous regions and 011 the faces ol the crystallites. T h e ratio of the cell~~lose participating in the reaction to the total, calculatccl by assuming t h a t 3 hydroxyl groups reacted per runl~yclroglucose unit, was taken as a quailtitative measure of the accessibility. These accessibilities were in good agreement with other accessibility and crystallinity measureine~lts.111 the present work tritium (IH3), which, being raclioactive, has the aclvru~tage t h a t it ma), be easily, accurately, ant1 sensitively cletermined, was introduced as a tracer i l l the exchange reaction
R . O H + I H T O = R . O T + H ? O [ I ]where R.OH is a carbohydrate containing accessible hydroxyls. T h e extent of this reaction was used to determine the accessibility of the carbohydrate. Measurements were made on a variety of salnples in two ways. 1. By a gas counting techilique in which cellulose ancl tritiated water v,~poi-werc I-eactecl together, ancl the adsorbed and vapor-phase water relnoved ancl analyzed by gas counting. T h e extent of the reaction was calculatecl from the stoichiometi-y of the system and the clilution of the tritium in the water.2. X raclioactivity counting method for solitl samples was used in \?ihirh cell~ilosc \vas cxch,lnged with tl-itiated water vapor. the water removed, ant1 the tcitiuin i l l the cellulose measured by c o u~~t i~i g the ~olicl sample. This neth hod required a special appal-atus, the \ 7 a c~~~~m Transfer C o~~n t e r (VTC), describecl else\vhere (12). T h e gas counting inctl~ocl was iisecl chiefly for calibration ancl corrol~ol-atio11 ol the solid counting n~ethocl.