Three common threads unite IRLA's members, in effect comprising the criteria for membership: our libraries house collections of national or international significance that are capable of supporting sustained research in a variety of interrelated subjects and of attracting scholars from all over the world;
Cellulose is a polymer made up of many glucose molecules. Cellulose is a polysaccharide. A polysaccharide a carbohydrate that can be decomposed by hydrolysis into two or more molecules of monosaccharides. Hydrolysis is a chemical reaction during which molecules of water (H2O) are split into hydrogen cations (H+, conventionally referred to as protons) and hydroxide anions (OHâ) in the process of a chemical mechanism.
Cellulose. Cellulose, from which our paper is fabricated, is built from glucose molecules bonded covalently together into long chains. Each alternating glucose ring of the cellulose molecule is flipped over and the water molecule (H2O) has been split out leaving an oxygen molecule between each ring. This chain or ribbon (the cellulose molecule) will continue for 3,000 to 5,000 glucose units (see illustration 5). These long ribbon-like chains (molecules) are built up into sheets which are held together by the side-to-side hydrogen bonding between the chains (see illustration 6).