The invention relates to a dry or slurry process to prepare phosphate-crosslinked cellulose ethers from a cellulose starting material comprising the steps of adding an alkalizing agent to the cellulose starting material to achieve mercerization, adding an ethehfying agent to the reaction mixture to achieve etherification of the cellulose, and adding a crosslinking agent to the reaction mixture to achieve crosslinking of the cellulose, wherein at least part of the alkalizing agent is added to the cellulose starting material before the etherification and/or crosslinking reactions take place to obtain alkalized cellulose; the crosslinking agent and the etherifying agent are added one after the other in random order or simultaneously; the crosslinking agent is an alkali metal thmetaphosphate; and the crosslinking and etherification steps are performed at an elevated temperature. Additionally, the invention relates to crosslinked cellulose ethers obtainable by the above process having a viscosity and/or water absorption capacity higher than their non-crosslinked equivalents and the use thereof.

The invention relates to a dry or slurry process to prepare phosphate-crosslinked cellulose ethers from a cellulose starting material comprising the steps of adding an alkalizing agent to the cellulose starting material to achieve mercerization, adding an ethehfying agent to the reaction mixture to achieve etherification of the cellulose, and adding a crosslinking agent to the reaction mixture to achieve crosslinking of the cellulose, wherein at least part of the alkalizing agent is added to the cellulose starting material before the etherification and/or crosslinking reactions take place to obtain alkalized cellulose; the crosslinking agent and the etherifying agent are added one after the other in random order or simultaneously; the crosslinking agent is an alkali metal thmetaphosphate; and the crosslinking and etherification steps are performed at an elevated temperature. Additionally, the invention relates to crosslinked cellulose ethers obtainable by the above process having a viscosity and/or water absorption capacity higher than their non-crosslinked equivalents and the use thereof.

A method for sulphation and phosphorylation of a wooden body to impart anti-flame properties to the substrate wherein at least one phosphonic acid of the formula (I) is used PO(OH).sub.2RPO(OH).sub.2 as a catalyst for sulphation and phosphorylating agent, and the relative wooden body.

A process for producing a cellulose based sorbent material for the removal of water soluble contaminants from water and other aqueous solutions comprising reacting one or more biomass based cellulose containing raw materials with dilute phosphoric acid where the reaction mixture containing said cellulose containing materials is heated to a reaction temperature and after completion of the reaction time, separation of the dilute phosphoric acid solution from the remaining insoluble raw material, neutralization of the solution by means of a suitable neutralizing agent resulting in precipitation of the modified cellulose, and then separating, washing and removing excess water from the resultant precipitate.

A process for producing a cellulose based sorbent material for the removal of water soluble contaminants from water and other aqueous solutions comprising reacting one or more biomass based cellulose containing raw materials with dilute phosphoric acid where the reaction mixture containing said cellulose containing materials is heated to a reaction temperature and after completion of the reaction time, separation of the dilute phosphoric acid solution from the remaining insoluble raw material, neutralization of the solution by means of a suitable neutralizing agent resulting in precipitation of the modified cellulose, and then separating, washing and removing excess water from the resultant precipitate.

Biopolymer catalysts, methods of synthesizing a biopolymer catalyst, and methods of catalyzing the hydrolysis of cellulose with a biopolymer catalyst are described.

Biopolymer catalysts, methods of synthesizing a biopolymer catalyst, and methods of catalyzing the hydrolysis of cellulose with a biopolymer catalyst are described.

Provided is a modified cellulose, a preparation method and application thereof. The modified cellulose includes a flame retardant cellulose ester film, and the preparation method includes: obtaining a homogeneous cellulose solution by adding a cellulose to an ionic liquid cosolvent system; obtaining a cellulose phosphite ester solution by adding dimethyl phosphite and a catalyst to the homogeneous cellulose solution for performing a transesterification; obtaining cellulose phosphite ester powder by regeneration solvent precipitation, washing, centrifugation, and drying of the cellulose phosphite ester solution; and obtaining the flame retardant cellulose ester film by evaporating solvent after dissolving the cellulose phosphite ester powder in dimethyl sulfoxide.

Provided is a modified cellulose, a preparation method and application thereof. The modified cellulose includes a flame retardant cellulose ester film, and the preparation method includes: obtaining a homogeneous cellulose solution by adding a cellulose to an ionic liquid cosolvent system; obtaining a cellulose phosphite ester solution by adding dimethyl phosphite and a catalyst to the homogeneous cellulose solution for performing a transesterification; obtaining cellulose phosphite ester powder by regeneration solvent precipitation, washing, centrifugation, and drying of the cellulose phosphite ester solution; and obtaining the flame retardant cellulose ester film by evaporating solvent after dissolving the cellulose phosphite ester powder in dimethyl sulfoxide.

This invention relates to improved cellulose nanocrystal fillers for rubber compositions and more specifically with the grafting of disulfide and thioesters onto cellulose nanocrystals for improved performance as a filler in rubber compositions. At least one embodiment describes a method to graft thiols or disulfides on CNC surfaces via esterification exemplified by 3-mercapto-propionic acid (MPA), 3-(acetylthio) propionic acid (APA), or dithiodipronanoic acid (DTDPA). The reaction may be carried out on CNCs highly dispersed in a suitable solvent and improved reaction conditions to achieve a favorable degree of substitution, DS. The embodiment further discloses how surface thiol groups can then be protected, in a second step, as thioesters or asymmetric disulfides to tune the hydrophobicity of CNCs to improve compatibility with styrene-butadiene, SBR, or natural rubbers.