Cellulose

The natural polymer cellulose is intimately connected with the history of man. Civilizations and cultures can be measured in terms of man's ability to produce cellulosic substrates for writing and printing. The modern science and technology of cellulose probably began with Anselme Payen. The term cellulose was first used in the literature in 1839 in a report of the French Academy, which evaluated Payen's work. At present, though plant sources of cellulose are the most known and sought after, there are bacterial, fungal, and algal systems and even animals that depend on and use cellulose in their life cycle. The amount of cellulose in different species of plants varies greatly. Never found alone, it is always associated with many other plant substances. Cellulose synthesis in human beings is still a controversial matter. The impact of cellulose on world biomass economics is to be noted. Commercial cellulose from higher plant life supplies an annual world consumption of about 150 million tons of fibrous raw material. The proofs of cellulose structure proceeded along two separate lines: classical organic chemistry, on the one hand, and embryonic polymer studies, on the other.