Cellulose
hideCellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β(1→4) linked D-glucose units.
Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About 33 percent of all plant matter is cellulose (the cellulose content of cotton is 90 percent and that of wood is 50 percent).
For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used to produce cardboard and paper; to a smaller extent it is converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under investigation as an alternative fuel source.
Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts. Cellulose is not digestible by humans and is often referred to as 'dietary fiber' or 'roughage', acting as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces.
For more information about Cellulose, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with cellulose
Researchers Create First Synthetic Cellulosome in Yeast
Oct 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers led by University of California, Riverside (UCR) Professor of Chemical Engineering Wilfred Chen has constructed for the first time a synthetic cellulosome in yeast, which is much more ...
Could a paper transistor offer an alternative to silicon?
Sep 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As technology advances, scientists look for ways to enhance electronic applications and devices. Indeed, electronics are getting smaller and more diverse. And as this happens, there is an increased requirement ...
Salt and Paper Battery May One Day Replace Lithium Batteries
Sep 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Salt and paper battery can be used in many low-power devices, such as medical implants, RFID tags, wireless sensors and smart cards. This battery uses a thin-film which makes it an attractive ...
Troublesome green algae serve as coating substrate in record-setting battery
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Unwanted blooms of Cladophora algae throughout the Baltic and in other parts of the world are not entirely without a positive side. A group of researchers at the Angstrom Laboratory at Uppsala University have d ...
Green industrial lubricant developed
Jul 10, 2009 |
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A team of researchers from the University of Huelva has developed an environmentally-friendly lubricating grease based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives, according to the journal Green Chemistry. The ne ...
New lab test offers better prediction of HIV microbicide safety
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Jul 10, 2009 |
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Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University have devised a laboratory test for predicting whether microbicides against HIV are safe for human use. The researchers have also discovered ...
Advance in understanding cellulose synthesis
Jun 14, 2009 |
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Cellulose is a fibrous molecule that makes up plant cell walls, gives plants shape and form and is a target of renewable, plant-based biofuels research. But how it forms, and thus how it can be modified to design energy-rich ...
Lower gas prices beat lower greenhouse gases in online survey
May 27, 2009 |
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Asked to choose between lower gasoline prices and reduced greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline, 66 percent of Americans in a new online survey chose lower gas prices and the rest said that reducing the emissions that cause ...
Plastic that grows on trees, part two
May 19, 2009 |
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Some researchers hope to turn plants into a renewable, nonpolluting replacement for crude oil. To achieve this, scientists have to learn how to convert plant biomass into a building block for plastics and fuels cheaply and ...
Breaking the ties that bind: New hope for biomass fuels
Apr 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Los Alamos National Laboratory researchers have discovered a potential chink in the armor of fibers that make the cell walls of certain inedible plant materials so tough. The insight ultimately ...
New method applies pesticides in nanofibers to keep chemicals on target
Mar 27, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- To prevent pesticides from drifting away and potentially posing risks to the environment, Cornell researchers have devised a solution: Apply the pesticides by encapsulating them in biodegradable ...
Genome sequencing of fungus with biotechnological applications
Feb 27, 2009 |
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Researchers Antonio G. Pisabarro (Professor of Microbiology) as well as José Luis Lavín and José Antonio Oguiza, from the Genetic and Microbiology Group at the Public University of Navarre, have taken ...
Shredding corn silage could produce more ethanol at less cost
Biology /
Feb 23, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A Purdue University researcher has found a way to get more bang for fewer bucks when it comes to processing cellulosic material to make ethanol.
Two-step chemical process turns raw biomass into biofuel
Feb 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking a chemical approach, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into a promising biofuel. The process, which is described ...
Process can cut the cost of making cellulosic biofuels
Jan 22, 2009 |
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A patented Michigan State University process to pretreat corn-crop waste before conversion into ethanol means extra nutrients don't have to be added, cutting the cost of making biofuels from cellulose.
