Electronics & Semiconductors

Green electronics: Circuit boards from renewable raw materials

For many years, Thomas Geiger has been conducting research in the field of cellulose fibrils—fine fibers that can be produced from wood pulp or agricultural waste, for example. Cellulose fibrils hold great potential for ...

Energy & Green Tech

Colorful films could help buildings, cars keep their cool

The cold blast of an air conditioner can be a welcome relief as temperatures soar, but "A/C" units require large amounts of energy and can leak potent greenhouse gases. Today, scientists report an eco-friendly alternative—a ...

Energy & Green Tech

New material could pave way for better, safer batteries

In pursuit of batteries that deliver more power and operate more safely, researchers are working to replace the liquids commonly used in today's lithium ion batteries with solid materials. Now, a research team from Brown ...

Consumer & Gadgets

Cohesive circuit protection for wearable electronics

Most electronic devices aren't waterproof, much to your irritation if a sprinkler suddenly sprays you while you're talking outside on your cellphone. Some electronics can be made at least water-resistant by, for example, ...

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Cellulose

Cellulose is an organic compound with the formula (C6H10O5)n, a polysaccharide consisting of a linear chain of several hundred to over ten thousand β(1→4) linked D-glucose units.

Cellulose is the structural component of the primary cell wall of green plants, many forms of algae and the oomycetes. Some species of bacteria secrete it to form biofilms. Cellulose is the most common organic compound on Earth. About 33 percent of all plant matter is cellulose (the cellulose content of cotton is 90 percent and that of wood is 50 percent).

For industrial use, cellulose is mainly obtained from wood pulp and cotton. It is mainly used to produce cardboard and paper; to a smaller extent it is converted into a wide variety of derivative products such as cellophane and rayon. Converting cellulose from energy crops into biofuels such as cellulosic ethanol is under investigation as an alternative fuel source.

Some animals, particularly ruminants and termites, can digest cellulose with the help of symbiotic micro-organisms that live in their guts. Cellulose is not digestible by humans and is often referred to as 'dietary fiber' or 'roughage', acting as a hydrophilic bulking agent for feces.

This text uses material from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA