Hydrogen Bonds in Cellulose and Cellulose Derivatives
The native biopolymer assembly has been shown to be a complex process involving two separate but integrated steps of polymerization and crystallization [1,2]. In particular, cellulose has shown to be assembled by a macromolecular complex of enzymes located on the cell surface. Nature has designed an...
Saved in:
Published in | Polysaccharides pp. 89 - 118 |
---|---|
Format | Book Chapter |
Language | English |
Published |
United Kingdom
CRC Press
2004
Taylor & Francis Group |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
Cover
Loading…
Summary: | The native biopolymer assembly has been shown to be a
complex process involving two separate but integrated
steps of polymerization and crystallization [1,2]. In
particular, cellulose has shown to be assembled by a
macromolecular complex of enzymes located on the cell
surface. Nature has designed an efficient system for regulating the molecular weight, crystallinity, size, and shape of
the nanostructure of cellulose (called cellulose microfibrils). Then the microfibrils are self-assembled to form cell
walls maintaining tree-frame structure. In this manner,
cellulose molecules biosynthesized at angstrom scale assemble to be microfibrils at nanoscale, and the microfibrils
assemble to be cell walls at micronscale, then they scale up
with growing (Fig. 1). Hydrogen bonds are no doubt a
major interaction to stabilize this hierarchical architecture
of higher plants. Therefore considering hydrogen bonds
of cellulose requires in your mind a picture of the size
(angstrom, nano, or micron) of the subject that you are
looking at. |
---|---|
ISBN: | 9780824754808 0824754808 |
DOI: | 10.1201/9781420030822-7 |