Application of Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering to Predict Microfibril Angle in <i>Acacia mangium</i> Wood

Abstract

Partially crystalline cellulose microfibrils are wound helically around the longitudinal axis of the wood cell. A method is presented for the measurement, using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), of the microfibril angle, (MFA) and the associated standard deviation for the cellulose microfibrils in the S2 layer of the cell walls of Acacia mangium wood. The length and orientation of the microfibrils of the cell walls in the irradiated volume of the thin samples are measured using SAXS and scanning electron microscope, (SEM). The undetermined parameters in the analysis are the MFA, (M) and the standard deviation (σФ) of the intensity distribution arising from the wandering of the fibril orientation about the mean value. Nine separate pairs of values are determined for nine different values of the angle of the incidence of the X-ray beam relative to the normal to the radial direction in the sample. The results show good agreement. The curve distribution of scattered intensity for the real cell wall structure is compared with that calculated with that assembly of rectangular cells with the same ratio of transverse to radial cell wall length. It is demonstrated that for β = 45°, the peaks in the curve intensity distribution for the real and the rectangular cells coincide. If this peak position is Ф45, Then the MFA can be determined from the relation M = tan-1 (tan Ф45 / cos 45°), which is precise for rectangular cells.