Plasticization of cellulose derivatives by reactive plasticizers II: characterization of plasticized cellulose acetates and their biodegradability

A plasticization method for cellulose acetates (CAs) has been developed that is based on the reaction with dibasic acid anhydrides and monoepoxides during the melting processing. As a continuation of the discussion in the previous report, additional evidence is presented for the role of grafting oligoesters onto cellulose acetates to prevent the bleeding of homo-oligoesters from the inside of molded articles to their surface. Based on these results, a method for enhancing the amount of grafting has been pursued by varying the combination of dibasic acid anhydrides and monoepoxides. The resulting reactive meltprocessing method allows preparation of biodegradable cellulosic plastics using practical process conditions. Higher biodegradability has been found for the oligoester-grafted CAs than for the unmodified parent CAs.