Sorption and desorption kinetics of the cellulose and water system. Part 2.—Low concentrations on the lowest sorption limb of the hysteresis loop

Abstract

It is found that a cross-linking treatment does not appreciably affect the mobility of the water at low concentrations although it does affect the amount sorbed. The kinetics appear to be almost entirely controlled by diffusion of the water through the polymer matrix and are hardly affected by the rate of relaxation of the matrix. The estimated diffusion coefficients suggests that the free energy for diffusion is influenced by the free energy required for the water to free itself from an active site as well as by the free energy required to form sufficient space for the water to move in the cellulose matrix.