I wanted to make cellulose diacetate by hydrolyzing cellulose triacetate.
At first, I did acetylation of cellulose to become cellulose triacetate using acetic acid, acetic anhydride and sulphuric acid. Then followed by adding in 33% or 66% aqueous acetic acid (I tried 2 different percentage) (I didnt add it dropwise) into the cellulose triacetate solution in order to hydrolyze it. After 30 mins, I precipitated it and vacuum-filtered it.
During washing by water, I checked the pH and it's already the same with the distilled water pH. However, when I dried it in the 60oC oven, it dried like jerky and showed brownish in color which I guess is due to the trace of acid (not sure the acetic acid or sulphuric acid). Normal cellulose triacetate will show white in color and sandy in texture
May I know whether washing it with ethanol will help? What's the recommendation percentage? Or did I do something wrong or any other suggestion?
Thank you
Dear Larsen Alessandro, membrane tubes dialysis is used for removing low MW substances. My Regards
Dear Larsen, in this context please have a look at the following potentially useful article. The authors here suggest just washing with excess water to remove traces of acetic acid:
A more sustainable synthesis approach for cellulose acetate using the DBU/CO2 switchable solvent system
Article A more Sustainable Synthesis Approach for Cellulose Acetate ...
This article has been published Open Access and is thus freely accessible on the internet (please see attached pdf file).
Another simple method would be to place your sample in a vacuum desiccator filled with solid NaOH pellets. This will surely remove any remaining acetic acid.
Good luck with your work!
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