Saponification of wheat straw-g-polyacrylonitrile

Wheat straw‐g‐polyacrylonitrile (PAN), containing 40% PAN, was saponified with sodium hydroxide and isolated under three sets of saponification and work‐up conditions. Each reaction mixture was separated into a water‐soluble and a water‐insoluble fraction, which were individually analyzed for percentages (by weight) of synthetic polymer (saponified PAN), cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. Water solubles amounted to 14–24% of the total product and contained 70–74% synthetic polymer, the remainder being hemicellulose and lignin. Although water‐insoluble fractions contained 52–54% saponified PAN, their water absorbencies were low (14–17 g H2O/g polymer). Treatment of these fractions with the enzyme cellulase converted 55–62% of the total cellulose of glucose.