Investigation on Changes in the Miscibility, Morphology, Rheology and Mechanical Behavior of Melt Processed Cellulose Acetate through Adding Polyethylene Glycol as a Plasticizer

Polyethylene glycol (PEG 200) was used as an eco-friendly plasticizer for preparing thermoplastic cellulose acetate (CA) by a twin-screw extruder. The plasticization efficiency of PEG 200 was compared with that of triethyl citrate (TEC). The interaction between polyethylene glycol and CA was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Both FT-IR and DSC proved that PEG 200 could form stable and strong hydrogen bonds with CA molecules. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed that the CA granules were completely disrupted during the extrusion and a continuous and homogeneous phase was observed. The PEG 200-plasticized cellulose acetate (PCA) showed greater viscosity reduction than TEC-plasticized cellulose acetate (TCA) at the same additive levels. Furthermore, the Izod-notched impact strength and elongation at break of PCA were higher than those of TCA. The tensile strength, Izod-notched impact strength and elongation at break of PCA containing 25 wt% PEG 200 reached 31.6 MPa, 20.9 KJ/m2 and 80.5%, respectively, as compared to 39.2 MPa, 10.9 KJ/m2 and 32.3% for 25 wt% TEC plasticized CA.