Cellulose
Also searched as: beta-1,4-glucan, cellulose I, cellulose II, plant cellulose, cellulosic
A linear polysaccharide of glucose units joined by beta-1,4-glycosidic bonds that forms the load-bearing framework of plant cell walls and the main substance of cotton, flax and regenerated fibers.
In detail
Cellulose is an unbranched chain of D-glucose rings, each ring turned relative to its neighbor so that the chain lies flat and straight. Hydroxyl groups along every ring form hydrogen bonds within a chain and between neighboring chains, and stacked layers of chains are also held by van der Waals and hydrophobic interactions. The chains pack into microfibrils that contain both highly ordered and less ordered zones. In bast fibers such as flax, cellulose sits in a matrix of hemicellulose, pectin and a little lignin. Regenerated fibers such as viscose and lyocell are made by dissolving cellulose and re-forming it, which changes its crystal form and degree of order.
The science and numbers
Each anhydroglucose unit carries three hydroxyl groups, at carbons 2, 3 and 6, and the beta configuration of the 1,4 linkage rotates successive rings by about 180 degrees, so the chain has a two-residue repeat corresponding to cellobiose. Dense intra- and intermolecular hydrogen bonding, together with van der Waals forces between stacked chains, locks chains into rigid microfibrils. Synchrotron X-ray and neutron fiber diffraction studies have mapped the chain packing and hydrogen-bonding network of the native cellulose I alpha form. Dissolving and regenerating cellulose, as in viscose or lyocell manufacture, converts it largely to a different crystal form, cellulose II. Because this bonding network is so extensive, cellulose decomposes before it melts, which is why regenerated cellulose fibers are spun from solution rather than from a melt. In flax, cellulose typically makes up roughly 64 to 78% of fiber mass.
A practical example
A student lays a linen thread and a viscose thread side by side and asks why they share so many behaviors, such as absorbing water readily and scorching rather than melting under an iron. Both are cellulose. The difference lies in how that cellulose is arranged: the linen keeps the native microfibril architecture grown by the plant, while the viscose has been dissolved and rebuilt into a new, less perfect structure.
What to distinguish
Cellulose names a molecule, not a particular fiber or an environmental profile. Cotton, linen, viscose, lyocell and paper all contain it, yet their morphology, chain length, crystal form and processing chemistry differ widely. Knowing that a fiber is cellulose-based does not tell you whether it is native or regenerated, how it was grown or pulped, or what solvents and finishes were used.
Origins and history
The French chemist Anselme Payen isolated cellulose in 1838 and recognized it as a common constituent of plant tissue. The name joins cell, from the Latin cellula (a small room), with -ose, the chemical suffix used for sugars, reflecting its location in cell walls and its glucose building blocks. The fine detail of its crystal structure took far longer to establish: the hydrogen-bonding patterns of native cellulose were resolved only with modern synchrotron and neutron diffraction.
Related terms
Sources & further reading
- ScienceDirect Topics: Cellulose I, an overview
- PubMed: Crystal structure and hydrogen bonding system in cellulose I(alpha) from synchrotron X-ray and neutron fiber diffraction
- ScienceDirect Topics: Cellulose molecule, an overview
- Cellulose (Springer): Extraction of cellulose fibers from flax and hemp, a review
Technical references reviewed 2026-09-22. Examples are illustrative. Industry organizations and manufacturers describe their own fields; their references are not independent product endorsements. Figures are approximate and depend on the stated test conditions.