A new method was developed to characterize the cellulose fiber (hardwood dissolving pulp) size distribution after 50 wt% sulfuric acid hydrolysis at different hydrolysis temperatures with exponential and Rosin-Rammler (R-R) laws. The results show that the two above laws can be effective to explain the cellulose hydrolysis process. The exponential and the R-R laws were found to be well fitted to the sulfuric acid hydrolyzed cellulose fiber length distribution. The cumulative number distribution

more »

... rom Fiber Tester was shown to fit the exponential distribution well, while the cumulative mass distribution obtained from the acid hydrolysis was found to be suitable to the R-R law via an approximation process. The results from SEM analyses also supported the above conclusions. This approach can be used to characterize the cellulosic fiber properties before a further process of biorefinery, nanocellulose preparation, or other application of lignocellulosic fibers.