A Revised Structure and Hydrogen-Bonding System in Cellulose II from a Neutron Fiber Diffraction Analysis

Molecular dynamics simulations of theoretical cellulose nanotube models

Nanotubes are remarkable nanoscale architectures for a wide range of potential applications. In the present paper, we report a molecular dynamics (MD) study of the theoretical cellulose nanotube (CelNT) models to evaluate their dynamic behavior in solution (either chloroform or benzene). Based on the one-quarter chain staggering relationship, we constructed six CelNT models by combining the two chain polarities (parallel (P) and antiparallel (AP)) and three symmetry operations (helical right (H_R), helical left (H_L), and rotation (R)) to generate a circular arrangement of molecular chains. Among the four models that retained the tubular form (P-H_R, P-H_L, P-R, and AP-R), the P-R and AP-R models have the lowest steric energies in benzene and chloroform, respectively. The structural features of the CelNT models were characterized in terms of the hydroxymethyl group conformation and intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Solvent structuring more clearly occurred with benzene than chloroform, suggesting that the CelNT models may disperse in benzene.

Evaluation of hydrogen bond networks in cellulose Iβ and II crystals using density functional theory and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics

Crystal models of cellulose Iβ and II, which contain various hydrogen bonding (HB) networks, were analyzed using density functional theory and Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics (CPMD) simulations. From the CPMD trajectories, the power spectra of the velocity correlation functions of hydroxyl groups involved in hydrogen bonds were calculated. For the Iβ allomorph, HB network A, which is dominant according to the neutron diffraction data, was stable, and the power spectrum represented the essential features of the experimental IR spectra. In contrast, network B, which is a minor structure, was unstable because its hydroxymethyl groups reoriented during the CPMD simulation, yielding a different crystal structure to that determined by experiments. For the II allomorph, a HB network A is proposed based on diffraction data, whereas molecular modeling identifies an alternative network B. Our simulations showed that the interaction energies of the cellulose II (B) model are slightly more favorable than model II(A). However, the evaluation of the free energy should be waited for the accurate determination from the energy point of view. For the IR calculation, cellulose II (B) model reproduces the spectra better than model II (A).

Characterization of Individual Hydrogen Bonds in Crystalline Regenerated Cellulose Using Resolved Polarized FTIR Spectra

Cellulose nanofibers (CNFs), which are directly isolated as a native form, have drawn considerable attention as eco-friendly and distinctive material to be partly substituted for fossil products. In addition to the increasing attention to the native CNFs, conventional regenerated cellulose having cellulose II crystals also attracts more attention because of its cost-effective method of production in a moderately easy and repeatable fashion. Inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonds are, in particular, thought to contribute greatly to the physical properties of cellulosic commercial products. More than half century ago, Marchessault et al. attempted to directly assign the hydroxyl (OH) group vibrations related to hydrogen bonding in infrared (IR) spectra. The assignment, however, has not been significantly updated. One reason for the delayed assignments is the difficulty in preparing pure cellulose II. Here, we show successful IR assignments of the interacted OH groups in cellulose II by using the nematic ordered cellulose to prepare a highly oriented regenerated film. The film had anisotropic crystalline domains, which provided a clearly resolved component in the IR spectra. The OH bands were well assigned, and this IR assignment becomes an effective tool to understand the structure-property relationship for engineering advanced regenerated cellulose materials.

X-ray crystal structure of anhydrous chitosan at atomic resolution

We determined the crystal structure of anhydrous chitosan at atomic resolution, using X-ray fiber diffraction data extending to 1.17 Å resolution. The unit cell [a = 8.129(7) Å, b = 8.347(6) Å, c = 10.311(7) Å, space group P21 21 21 ] of anhydrous chitosan contains two chains having one glucosamine residue in the asymmetric unit with the primary hydroxyl group in the gt conformation, that could be directly located in the Fourier omit map. The molecular arrangement of chitosan is very similar to the corner chains of cellulose II implying similar intermolecular hydrogen bonding between O6 and the amine nitrogen atom, and an intramolecular bifurcated hydrogen bond from O3 to O5 and O6. In addition to the classical hydrogen bonds, all the aliphatic hydrogens were involved in one or two weak hydrogen bonds, mostly helping to stabilize cohesion between antiparallel chains. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biopolymers 105: 361-368, 2016.

H-Bond Isomerization in Crystalline Cellulose IIII: Proton Hopping versus Hydroxyl Flip-Flop

Based on density-functional theory calculations, we discuss three forms of cellulose III_I that are characterized by different intersheet H-bonding patterns. Two alternative mechanisms can facilitate the interconversion between these H-bonding patterns: the rotation of hydroxy groups ("flip-flop") or a concerted proton transfer from one hydroxy group to the other ("proton hopping"). Both mechanisms have energy barriers of very similar height. Electronic structure theory methods allow us to study effects that involve the breaking/forming bonds, like the hopping of protons. In many of the force field formulations, in particular, the ones that are typically used to study cellulose, such effects are not considered. However, such insight at the atomistic and electronic scale can be the key to finding energy-efficient means for cellulose deconstruction.

The correlation between cellulose allomorphs (I and II) and conversion after removal of hemicellulose and lignin of lignocellulose

H2SO4, NaOH and H3PO4 were applied to decompose lignocellulose samples (giant reeds, pennisetum and cotton stalks) to investigate the correlation between cellulose allomorphs (cellulose I and II) and conversion of cellulose. The effect of removal of hemicellulose and lignin on the surface morphology, crystallinity index (CrI), cellulose allomorphs (cellulose I and II), and enzymatic hydrolysis under different pretreatments was also studied. CrI caused by H3PO4 pretreatment reached 11.19%, 24.93% and 8.15% for the three samples, respectively. Corn stalk showed highest conversion of cellulose among three samples, irrespective of the pretreatment used. This accounted for the widely use of corn stalk as the renewable crop substrate to synthesize biofuels like ethanol. CrI of cellulose I (CrI-I) negatively affects cellulose conversion but CrI of cellulose II (CrI-II) positively affects cellulose conversion. It contributes to make the strategy to transform cellulose I to cellulose II and enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose.

Impact of CAD-deficiency in flax on biogas production

Global warming and the reduction in our fossil fuel reservoir have forced humanity to look for new means of energy production. Agricultural waste remains a large source for biofuel and bioenergy production. Flax shives are a waste product obtained during the processing of flax fibers. We investigated the possibility of using low-lignin flax shives for biogas production, specifically by assessing the impact of CAD deficiency on the biochemical and structural properties of shives. The study used genetically modified flax plants with a silenced CAD gene, which encodes the key enzyme for lignin synthesis. Reducing the lignin content modified cellulose crystallinity, improved flax shive fermentation and optimized biogas production. Chemical pretreatment of the shive biomass further increased biogas production efficiency.

Analysis of mercerization process based on the intensity change of deconvoluted resonances of (13)C CP/MAS NMR: Cellulose mercerized under cooling and non-cooling conditions

The area intensity change of C1, C4, and C6 in spectrum obtained by (13)C CP/MAS NMR and the mutual relationship between their changes were examined for cellulose samples treated with various concentrations of aqueous NaOH solutions under non-cooling and cooling conditions. The area intensity of C1-up and C6-down changed cooperatively with that of C4-down which corresponds to the crystallinity of samples: "-up" and "-down" are the up- and down- field component in a splitting peak of NMR spectrum, respectively. The intensity change of C1-up starts to decrease with decreasing in that of C4-down after that of C6-down is almost complete. These changes were more clearly observed for samples treated under cooling condition. It can be suggested that their characteristic change relates closely to the change in conformation of cellulose chains by induced decrystallization and the subsequent crystallization of cellulose II, and presumed that their changes at microscopic level relate to the macroscopic morphological changes such as contraction along the length of cellulose chains and recovery along the length.

Molecular deformation mechanisms in cellulose allomorphs and the role of hydrogen bonds

Differences in tensile properties between cellulose crystal allomorphs cannot be rationalized by simply counting hydrogen bonds. From molecular dynamics computer simulations the cooperative nature of energy contributions to axial cellulose crystal modulus becomes apparent. Using a decomposition of inter and intramolecular forces as a function of tensile strain, the three allomorphs show dramatic differences in terms of how the contributions to elastic energy are distributed between covalent bonds, angles, dihedrals, electrostatic forces, dispersion and steric forces.

Fabrication of cellulose self-assemblies and high-strength ordered cellulose films

Based on the formation of cellulose hydrogels in NaOH/urea aqueous solvent media, cellulose self-assembly precursor is acquired. It is proved that the water uptake capability of the cellulose hydrogels depends highly on the cross-link degree (CLD) of cellulose. With varying CLD and concentration of cellulose, a variety of morphologies of cellulose self-assemblies, including sheets with perfect morphology, high-aspect-ratio fibers, and disorganized segments and network, are formed through evaporation. Furthermore, cellulose films are fabricated by diecasting and evaporating the cellulose hydrogels, resulting in a 3D-ordered structure of closely stacking of cellulose sheets. The mechanical test indicates both tensile strength and flexibility of the cellulose films are greatly improved, which is attributed to the formation of the orderly stacking of cellulose sheets. The study is expected to lay an important foundation on the preparation of ordered and high-strength cellulose materials.

Supramolecular transitions in native cellulose-I during progressive oxidation reaction leading to quasi-spherical nanoparticles of 6-carboxycellulose

Cellulose-I swells considerably in phosphoric acid, and converts to amorphous cellulose via a cellulose-II transition state. Controlled oxidation of cellulose-I to 6-carboxycellulose (6 CC) using HNO3-H3PO4-NaNO2 oxidation system led to the selective production of 6 CC's of varying carboxyl contents (1.7-22%) as well as various shapes and sizes (macro-sized fibrils of several micron length and/or spherical nanoparticles of 25-35 nm), depending on the reaction conditions. 6 CC's having less than 14% carboxyl content were largely in cellulose-II form (WAXRD values in-between cellulose I and cellulose II), whereas at 14-22% the 6 CC's were largely amorphous; only trace crystallinity was observed at 19% and 22% carboxyl 6 CC. Spherical nanoparticles retained a high degree of crystallinity having cellulose-I structure, whereas the macro-sized fibrils were largely converted to cellulose-II structure. Analysis by WAXRD as well as by CP-MAS (13)C NMR studies gave similar conclusions. Reduced molecular weight with progressive oxidation, including presence of oligomers, was also evident from an increase in the reducing-end carbon peak at ∼ 92 ppm. For high oxidation levels (>14%) the NMR 92-96 ppm peaks disappeared on extracting with dilute alkali, due to soluble oligomers being removed.

Fabrication of Cellulose Film with Enhanced Mechanical Properties in Ionic Liquid 1-Allyl-3-methylimidaxolium Chloride (AmimCl)

More and more attention has been paid to environmentally friendly bio-based renewable materials as the substitution of fossil-based materials, due to the increasing environmental concerns. In this study, regenerated cellulose films with enhanced mechanical property were prepared via incorporating different plasticizers using ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AmimCl) as the solvent. The characteristics of the cellulose films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), thermal analysis (TG), X-ray diffraction (XRD), ¹³C Solid-state cross-polarization/magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (CP/MAS NMR) and tensile testing. The results showed that the cellulose films exhibited a homogeneous and smooth surface structure. It was noted that the thermal stability of the regenerated cellulose film plasticized with glycerol was increased compared with other regenerated cellulose films. Furthermore, the incorporation of plasticizers dramatically strengthened the tensile strength and improved the hydrophobicity of cellulose films, as compared to the control sample. Therefore, these notable results exhibited the potential utilization in producing environmentally friendly cellulose films with high performance properties.

Improved properties of micronized genetically modified flax fibers

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of micronization on the compound content, crystalline structure and physicochemical properties of fiber from genetically modified (GM) flax. The GM flax was transformed with three bacterial (Ralstonia eutropha) genes coding for enzymes of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) synthesis and under the control of the vascular bundle promoter. The modification resulted in fibers containing the 3-hydroxybutyrate polymer bound to cellulose via hydrogen and ester bonds and antioxidant compounds (phenolic acids, vanillin, vitexin, etc.). The fibers appeared to have a significantly decreased particle size after 20h of ball-milling treatment. Micronized fibers showed reduced phenolic contents and antioxidant capacity compared to the results for untreated fibers. An increased level of PHB was also detected. Micronization introduces structural changes in fiber constituents (cellulose, hemicellulose, pectin, lignin, PHB) and micronized fibers exhibit more functional groups (hydroxyl, carboxyl) derived from those constituents. It is thus concluded that micronization treatments improve the functional properties of the fiber components.

Exploring the conformational space of amorphous cellulose using NMR chemical shifts

(13)C-labeled amorphous cellulose and (13)C NMR chemical shifts by 2D (13)C-(13)C correlation spectroscopy were obtained in the regenerated solid-state from ionic liquids. On the basis of the assigned chemical shifts, combined with information from molecular dynamics and quantum chemistry computer simulations a twisted structure for amorphous cellulose is proposed exposing more hydrophilic surface than that of extended crystalline cellulose.

Infrared study on deuteration of highly-crystalline chitin

We report an infrared study of the deuteration of highly crystalline α- and β-chitin. With exposure to D2O vapor, the deuteration of α-chitin progressed on surface molecules, in contrast with β-chitin, which is partially deuterated on the inner part of the crystal. The intracrystalline deuteration occurred with high-temperature annealing in liquid D2O for α- and β-chitin. In α-chitin, the deuteration was similar between all the three functional groups. The ratio of deuterium/hydrogen increased with treatment temperature, and all the hydrogen in the functional groups was accessible above 200 °C. In β-chitin, the deuteration was more specific for each functional group. The deuteration of O3-H groups progressed rapidly, even below 100 °C, and, by contrast, that of O6-H and N-H progressed relatively slowly. These differences of deuteration between α- and β-chitin presumably arises from the particular ability of β-chitin to form a complex with water molecules.

Pulp properties and their influence on enzymatic degradability

Endoglucanase treatment of pulp for the adjustment of viscosity and the increase in pulp reactivity is a promising step in the concept for the beneficial production of dissolving pulps from paper grade pulps. To promote the commercial applicability of these enzymes, the influence of pulp properties such as carbohydrate composition, pulp type and cellulose morphology on the enzymatic degradability of a pulp was examined. High contents of hemicelluloses and lignin were shown to impair the accessibility of the cellulose to the enzymes. Due to the elevated swelling capacity of cellulose II, conversion of the cellulose morphology from I to II upon alkaline treatments showed a large increasing effect on the cellulose accessibility, and enzymatic degradability. Reactivity measurements of softwood sulfite pulps after enzymatic degradation and acid-catalyzed hydrolysis, respectively, revealed elevated reactivity for the pulp after acid treatment. This is in contrast to effects of enzyme treatments reported for CCE treated kraft pulps.

Overview of computer modeling of cellulose

Although it has a deceptively simple primary structure, the collective organization of bulk cellulose, particularly as it exists in cellulose fibers in the cell walls of living plants and other organisms, is quite diverse and complex. While some experimental techniques, such as vibrational spectroscopy and diffraction from partially crystalline samples, are able to provide insights into the organization of bulk cellulose, its intrinsic complexity has left many questions still unanswered. For this reason, additional probes of cellulose structure would be highly desirable. With the continuing advances in computer power through massive parallelization, and the steady progress in computer codes and force fields for modeling carbohydrate systems, molecular mechanics simulations have become an attractive means of studying cellulosic systems at the atomic and molecular level. The coming decade will almost certainly see remarkable advances in the understanding of cellulose using such simulations.