PHASE SEPARATION AND LIQUID-CRYSTAL STATE
OF CELLULOSE TRIACETATE IN NITROMETHANE

A. B. Shipovskaya,a} G. N. Timofeeva,a}
N. O. Gegel',a} and S. Yu. Shchegolevb}  

UDC 544.015.4:544.022.5:547.458.81

The existence of the liquid-crystal state of cellulose 
acetate in nitromethane has been shown on the basis of the calculation 
data, rheological and x-ray structural analysis, and polarization- 
and electron-microexamination. The conditions for the formation of 
the lyotropic phase have been revealed and the states of its concentration-temperature 
boundary have been determined and marked on the diagram. It is shown 
that the ratio between acetate and hydroxyl groups in the polymer 
strongly influences the temperature and concentration ranges of realization 
of a highly oriented state.

a}N. G. Chernyshevskii Saratov State University, 83 Astrakhanskaya Str., 
Saratov, 410026, Russia; email: Shipovskayaab@rambler.ru; b}Institute 
of Biochemistry and Physiology of Plants and Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, 
13 Éntuziastov Ave., Saratov, 410049, Russia; email: su@ibppm.sgu.ru. Translated from 
Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 81, No. 6, pp. 1178-1187, November-December, 2008. 
Original article submitted May 4, 2007; revision submitted April 7, 2008.