LAUSR

Abstract The pyrolysis characteristics of cellulose was investigated using TGA and TG–FTIR. An modified reaction model was proposed to study cellulose pyrolysis. In this model, the active cellulose ( E = 137 k J / m o l ) and dehydrocellulose ( E = 91.3 k J / m o l ) were formed by parallel mechanism. The degradation of the active cellulose was followed by two competitive pathways, this is, one that formed levoglucosan ( E = 159.2 k J / m o l ) and another that formed furan and some low molecular weight products ( E = 203.5 k J / m o l ). The random scission model was used to describe the kinetics of cellulose pyrolysis. The same kinetic parameters were used for different linear heating rates (10–100 °C/min) and isothermal segment conditions. By successfully modeling non-isothermal and isothermal segment data, the model was proved to be credible in describing cellulose pyrolysis.