ORIGINAL PAPER Comparison of rheological properties of kraft and microcrystalline cellulose dissolved in lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide Lahcen El Hamdaoui 1 • Mehdi El Bouchti 2 • Mohammed El Moussaouiti 1 Received: 20 February 2017 / Revised: 9 May 2017 / Accepted: 12 May 2017 / Published online: 19 May 2017 Ó Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2017 Abstract Rheological properties of microcrystalline and kraft cellulose dissolved in lithium chloride/N,N-dimethylacetamide solutions were characterized using an advanced rheometer. First, the effect of LiCl on the viscosity of DMAc (8%) at various temperatures was evaluated. Then the shear rheology of cellulose/DMAc/ LiCl solutions was studied in a range of concentrations (0.25–2 wt%) and tem- peratures (25–80 °C). The solutions of kraft cellulose/LiCl/DMAc behave as non- Newtonian liquids and its viscosity is dependent on the shear rate. The Newtonian flow was recorded for the microcrystalline cellulose/LiCl/DMAc solutions. The viscosity values of these solutions were analyzed in detail for viscosity-concen- tration and viscosity-temperature. The viscosity of the solutions increased with the increase in solution concentration. The heightening of the solution temperature reduced the viscosity of the solutions. The activation energy of the dissolved kraft cellulose was calculated from the Arrhenius approximation within a concentration range of 0.25–2 wt%, and then compared with that of the microcrystalline cellulose. Keywords Cellulose dissolution Á Kraft cellulose Á DMAc/LiCl Á Rheology Á Viscosity-temperature & Lahcen El Hamdaoui la.elhamdaoui@gmail.com 1 Laboratory of Materials Nanotechnology and Environment, Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed V, Rabat, Morocco 2 Laboratory REMTEX, ESITH (Higher School of Textile and Clothing Industries), Casablanca, Morocco 123 Polym. Bull. (2018) 75:769–779 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-017-2066-3