A cellulose degradation technique utilizing a pressurized HCl gas (up to 100 kPa) device is introduced. High pressure HCl quickly degraded cellulose in purified cotton linters, reaching the so-called levelling-off degree of polymerisation (LODP) in less than 1.5 h. LODP marks the point where the disordered portions of cellulose microfibrils have been degraded and only the crystalline portions remain, generally signalling the end of cellulose degradation unless remarkably high concentrations are used. In the present high pressure system, however, continued hydrolysis following the LODP was detected by incremental release of sugars from the hydrolysate after its exposure to water, supposedly caused by erosion from the cellulose crystallite ends. With minimal water consumption and the ease of recycling the gaseous acid, the technique could be a potential candidate for pre-treatment considering the future production of cellulose nanomaterials, particularly cellulose nanocrystals.

中文翻译：

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从蒸汽到气体：使用气态HCl优化纤维素降解†

介绍了一种使用加压HCl气体（最高100 kPa）设备的纤维素降解技术。高压HCl在纯棉短绒中迅速降解纤维素，在不到1.5小时的时间内达到所谓的均化聚合度（LODP）。LODP标志着纤维素微纤维的无序部分已经降解并且仅结晶部分保留的点，通常表明纤维素降解的结束，除非使用了非常高的浓度。然而，在当前的高压系统中，LODP之后的持续水解是通过将糖暴露于水中之后从水解产物中糖的逐步释放而检测到的，据推测这是由于纤维素微晶末端的侵蚀所致。以最小的水消耗和易于回收气态酸的方式，