ANALYSIS OF CELLULOSE AND KRAFT PULP OZONOLYSIS PRODUCTS BY ANION-EXCHANGE CHROMATOGRAPHY WITH PULSED AMPEROMETRIC DETECTION

Efforts to reduce the level of chlorinated organics discharged into the environment have led to interest in ozone bleaching of kraft pulp. In the course of this operation the transformation of cellulose has to be reduced to the minimum. With this aim, the investigation of the cellulose-ozone reaction was carried out from a mechanistic point of view. The initial interest was in the composition of kraft pulp and cellulose ozonation effluents. High-performance anion-exchange chromatography with pulsed amperometric detection was used to separate and partially identify the soluble modified or unmodified carbohydrates of kraft pulp and cellulose ozonolysis. The main results indicate that after ozonation at 0, 25 and 65-degrees-C, cellulose gives oligosaccharides, monosaccharides and probably oxidized forms of those products. Formaldehyde was also directly determined under the same conditions as for carbohydrates.