Water soluble carboxymethylcellulose fibers derived from alkalization-etherification of viscose fibers

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) fibers have been successfully prepared from viscose fibers through the process of alkalization-etherification. Parameters including reaction temperature, mass ratio of NaOH to the viscose fibers, and mass ratio of the viscose fibers to ethanol are studied. The degree of substitution (DS) and the inherent viscosity of the CMC fibers are determined. The CMC fibers are characterized by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), ¹H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H-NMR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and the X-ray diffraction (XRD). The analysis demonstrates that under the experimental conditions where the reaction temperature is 40 °C, mass ratio of NaOH to the viscose fibers is 2.0, and mass ratio of the viscose fibers to ethanol is 1:15, the obtained CMC fibers possess an appropriate DS, better water-solubility, and lower degree of etching, thus they can be used as absorbable hemostatic fibers.