Re: Hot Bleach dissolves Cellulose at 90c, what's going on?

Thanks for the question. 

Without more details about the paper towel you used in the experiment 
(there are a number of additives that are added to paper towels to 
improve strength, softness, absorbance, etc.), I won’t be able to 
determine all of the reactions and remaining components but I can give 
you some general guidance about what is happening in the experiment. 
Paper is made from tree fiber but the base material is cellulose, which 
is a natural polymer produced by trees and other plants. Cotton is 
another example of a natural cellulose. Bleach, also known as sodium 
hypochlorite (NaOCl) reacts with cellulose at high pH. 

Cellulose is a polymer that is formed by combining thousands of glucose 
units together. The bleach reacts with the cellulose polymer where the 
glucose units are connected, which cuts the polymer chain at that point. 
As more and more NaOCl reacts with the cellulose, the cellulose chains 
get shorter and shorter until only glucose units would remain. The 
reaction is an oxidation reaction carried out through a free radical 
mechanism. 

The temperature dependence that you observed is common in chemical 
reactions because chemical reactions occur faster at higher temperatures.