The thermal degradation of cellulose is a complex reaction and, despite the large amount of work by many investigators during the last decades, the actual understanding of the thermal decomposition kinetics is still very limited. Thus, while several mechanisms have been proposed to describe the process, the real model has not yet been clearly identified. In this paper, a set of experimental curves recorded under different heating schedules, i.e., linear heating rate, isothermal and constant rate thermal analysis (CRTA), has been analyzed using isoconversional and master plots methodology to discriminate the kinetic model followed by the reaction. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.