Abstract
Bell and Gibson1 have suggested that the degradation suffered by cellulose in contact with rusting iron is the result of autoxidation catalysed by the iron itself under the alkaline conditions resulting from the process of corrosion. Very little information is available concerning the influence of metals in the autoxidation of cellulose at the low alkali concentrations likely to be involved in such a system. It may therefore be of some interest to describe the results of an investigation in which it was found that copper has apparently an unexpectedly high catalytic effect in the reaction of cellulose with oxygen at low alkalinities.
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References
Bell, W. A., and Gibson, J. M., Nature, 180, 1065 (1957).
Calvert, M. A., and Clibbens, D. A., J. Textile Inst., 42, T211 (1951).
Cumberbirch, R. J. E., and Harland, W. G., J. Textile Inst. (in the press).
Sharples, A., J. Polymer Sci., 13, 393 (1954).
Michie, R. I. C., and Neale, S. M. (to be published).
Davidson, G. F., J. Textile Inst., 23, T95 (1932).
Entwistle, D., Cole, E. H., and Wooding, N. S., Textile Res. J., 19, 609 (1949).
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MICHIE, R., NEALE, S. Catalytic Action of Copper in the Alkaline Autoxidation of Cellulose at Low Alkali Concentration. Nature 183, 534–535 (1959). https://doi.org/10.1038/183534a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/183534a0
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