Self‐Assembly and Intermolecular Forces When Cellulose and Water Interact Using Molecular Modeling

Abstract

Cellulose chains are linear and aggregation occurs via both intra‐ and intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Cellulose has a strong affinity to itself and toward materials containing hydroxyls groups. Based on the preponderance of hydroxyl functional groups, cellulose is very reactive with water. At room temperature, cellulose chains will have at least a monomolecular layer of water associated to it. The formation of hydrogen bonds at the cellulose/water interface is shown to depend essentially on the adsorption site, for example, the equatorial hydroxyls or OH moieties pointing outward from the cellulose chains. The vdW forces also contribute significantly to the adsorption energy. They are a considerable cohesive energy into the cellulose network. At the surface of the cellulose chains, many intermolecular hydrogen bonds of the cellulose chains are lost. However, they are compensated by hydrogen bonds with water molecules. Electronic clouds can be distorted and create electrostatic dipoles. The large antibonding electron cloud that exists around the glucosidic bonds produces an induced polarization at the approach of water molecules. The electron cloud can be distorted and create an electrostatic dipole. It applies to the total displacement of the atoms within the material. Orbitals play a special role in reaction mechanism. Hydrophilic/hydrophobic nature of cellulose is based on its structural anisotropy. Cellulose‐water interactions are exothermic reactions. These interactions may occur spontaneously and result in higher randomness of the system. They are denoted by a negative heat flow (heat is lost to the surroundings). Energy does not need to be inputted in order for cellulose‐water interactions to occur.