Series solution of the autocatalytic hydrolysis of cellulose

The chemical degradation kinetics of cellulose is of scientific interest, as well as its practical importance in many industrial activities for optimal design. Much work has been done recently to understand the depolymerizaton of cellulose in homogeneous acidic medium on the assumption of autocatalytic hydrolysis with a positive feedback of acid production from the degraded biopolymer. Series solutions are obtained for concentrations of cellulose chains and degraded cellulose chains by Taylor series and variational iteration method. Depolymerization of cellulose strongly depends upon the initial conditions, and the concentration of cellulose chains changes exponentially with a linear and square/cubic time dependence. The analytical solution can be used for optimal design of the degradation process.