Abstract
In this study, the effect of power of ultrasound, temperature, and concentration of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) solution on the rate of ultrasonic degradation were investigated, and a kinetic model based on viscometry data was used to calculate the rate constants in different conditions. To investigation of effect of ultrasonic power on the degradation of CMC, the power of ultrasound was increased and observed that the viscosity of the CMC solution was decreased with an increase in the power of ultrasound, but the extent of the degradation in a constant power was found to decrease with an increase in concentration or temperature. The ultrasonic degradation of CMC solutions was carried out at different temperatures to investigate the effect of the temperature on the rate of degradation. The calculated rate constants indicated that the degradation rate of the CMC solutions decreased as the temperature increased. The degraded CMCs were characterized by gel permeation chromatography, and average molecular weights of ultrasonicated CMCs were compared in different reaction conditions. ยฉ 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012