Cellulose acetate biodegradable compounds

The early 1990s have also seen much interest in biodegradable cellulose acetate compounds. 

As a result of development work between the Battelle Institute in Frankfurt and a German candle-making company, Aetema, biodegradable cellulose acetate compounds have been available since 1991 from the Rhone-Poulenc subsidiary Tubize Plastics. They are marketed under the trade names Bioceta and Biocellat. The system is centred round the use of an additive which acts both as a plasticiser and a biodegrading agent, causing the cellulose ester to decompose within 6-24 months. 

In 1991 Rhone-Poulenc offered biodegradable cellulose acetate compounds in which an additive acts both as plasticiser and biodegrading agent (see Section 22.2.2.1). 

Asymmetric cellulose acetate membranes were developed in the early 1960s by Loeb and Sourirajan (2). For more than a decade, cellulose acetate and its blends were the only commercially available RO membranes. Improved membranes (with respect to operating pH, biodegradation, compaction, and organic compound rejection) were developed in the early 1970s (3). These membranes used aromatic... 

Some cellulose derivatives and P(3HB) and P(3HB-co-3HV) have been found to show good compatibility [114-116]. These are chemically modified natural and natural biodegradable polymer blend systems. Blends obtained by melts compounding P(3HB) with cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB, degrees of butyrate and acetate substitution are 2.50 and 0.18, respectively) have been found to be miscible over the whole composition range by DSC and dynamic mechanical spectroscopy [116]. 

Biodegradation indicates degradation of a polymer in natural environment. This implies loss of mechanical properties, changing in the chemical structure, and into other eco-friendly compounds (Jamshidian et al. 2010). Degradable polymers from natural sources (such as lignin, cellulose acetate, starch, polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxylaUcanoates, polyhydroxylbutyrate (PHB)), and some synthetic sources (polyvinyl alcohol, modified polyolefins, etc.) are classified as biopolymers (John and Thomas 2008). It is noticeable that the nanocomposite from nonrenewable synthetic sources is neither wholly degradable nor renewable. 

Biopolymer is nof s5monymous wifh biodegradable [43]. The first biobased polymers were cellulose-based bioplastics such as cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB), and cellulose acetate propionate (CAP) produced by the esterification of cellulose and in use for the last 100 years. Biopolymers are used for a plethora of applications ranging from salad dressing to medical devices. The following are a number of newer biopolymeric compounds that have commercial potential ... 

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