Comparative study of the performance of acetylated bamboo with different catalysts

The catalytic acetylation of bamboo (Phyllostachys pubescens) was compared with acetylation using concentrated sulfuric acid, acetic acid, potassium acetate, and noncatalytic acetylation at 120 °C for 3 h. The weight percentage gain, dimensional stability, color difference, and wettability of bamboo after the acetylation was comprehensively measured. Also, the chemical and thermal properties of the resultant bamboo were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis. The results showed that the potassium acetate-catalyzed acetylation of bamboo greatly accelerated the reaction degree, had little effect on color change, extraordinarily decreased wettability, and had little irregular impact on the dimensional stability. The catalytic activity was followed by potassium acetate, sulfuric acid, noncatalytic acid, and acetic acid. The FTIR analysis showed that the functional groups in the acetylated bamboo were mainly affected by different catalysts. The thermal stability of acetylated bamboo was higher than the untreated bamboo. In particular, potassium acetate-catalytic acetylation greatly reacted with -OH groups and increased thermal decomposition.