Chemical structure of cotton

Chemical structure of cotton

To explain the chemical structure of cotton first we have to know about the chemical composition of cotton. I tried to discuss the structure in a very easy way to understand:

Component	Amount	Main location
Oil and waxes	0.7	Cuticle
Cellulose	86.8	Winding layer andSecondary wall
Pectins	1.0	Primary wall
Carbohydrate	0.5	Primary wall
Salts	1.0	Lumen
Proteins	1.2	Lumen
Water	6.8
Others	2.0

From above table we see Cellulose is the main chemical component of cotton, means it is a cellulose fibre. Each fiber is made up of 20 to 30cellulose strands and is arranged into a way where it will become absorbent, strong, and durable. Cellulose is a polymer of Beta-D glucose. So, the elements that make up Cotton are: Oxygen (O), Hydrogen (H), and Carbon (C). When arranged in this specific way, these elements make up cotton.

Glucose is the basic unit from which cellulose is made. Here from the picture, we see there are two “Beta-D glucose” linked (as –O is above the C-1 atom) linked by a Beta-glycocydic bond (O-C-O bond is called glycocydic bond). When two glucose react, they produce a compound which is called Cellubiose. A chemical reaction is given for you:

C₆H₁₂O₆ (Beta glucose) + C₆H₁₂O₆ (Beta glucose) = C₁₂H₂₂O₁₂(Cellubiose) +H₂O

So, it is sure that Cellubiose is composed of two Beta-glucose and Cellubiose is the repeating unit of cellulose polymer of cotton. In  acellulose  molecule there are 1000 Cellubiose unit or 2000 Beta- glucose unit in an average. Therefore, degree of polymerization (the total number of structural unit uncluding end groups) is 20000 (average). Generally, it ranges from 2000-10,000.

Moreover, CH, OH, and CH₂ are all covalent compounds because all of the elements are non-metals. Since they are all non-metals so they makecovalent bond. All of the bonds are all single bonds. All these compounds are also organic compounds since in each compound there is either Carbon or Hydrogen. There are two functional groups: Alcohol (-OH) and Ether (-O-).

 Finally we can say, Cotton is a carbohydrate disaccharide, meaning that it is made up of two hydrocarbon rings. The carbon makes a ring with itself along with oxygen because it wants to fill up all of the spaces in it's last shell. Carbon has four valence electrons, while Oxygen has six, and Hydrogen has one. All these bond in specific ways to have all their empty spaces filled with each other's valence electrons.