Irradiation of pulp by ionizing radiation causes large viscosity drops, which are almost independent of consistency. Hydroxyl radical scavengers present during irradiation offer virtually no protection against depolymerization. These observations suggest that the major degradation of cellulose is due to direct ionization of the fibre, rather than to hydroxyl radicals extraneously produced in the surrounding water.
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Lind et al. (1997) studied this question.
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