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Cellulose Plastics
By Lakhan Singh
 
INTRODUCTION
 
Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula
 
(C
6
H
10
O
5
)
n
 
, a polysaccharide consisting of a linearchain of several hundred to over ten thousand β(1→4)linked D-glucose units. Cellulose is the structural component of the primarycell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and theoomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to formbiofilms. Cellulose is the most common organiccompound on Earth. About 33 percent of all plantmatter is cellulose (the cellulose content of cotton is 90percent and that of wood is 50 percent).
 
For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained fromwood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used toproduce cardboard and paper; to a smaller extentit is converted into a wide variety of derivativeproducts such as cellophane and rayon.Converting cellulose from energy crops intobiofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is underinvestigation as an alternative fuel source.
Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites,can digest cellulose with the help of symbioticmicro-organisms that live in their guts. Humanscannot digest cellulose; it is often referred to as'dietary fiber' or 'roughage' (e.g. outer shell of Maize) and acts as a hydrophilic bulking agentfor feces
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