Structure and thermal properties of cellulose diacetate-graft-poly(lactic acid) copolymer

To improve the thermal behavior of cellulose diacetate, cellulose diacetate-graft-poly(lactic acid) copolymers (CDA-g-PLAs) were synthesized by ring-opening polymerization of L-lactide using stannous octoate (Sn(Oct)2) as catalyst. The molecular structure of the copolymer was characterized by FT-IR and 1H-NMR and the thermal properties were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG-DTA). The results showed that the product was grafted copolymer of cellulose diacetate-graft-poly(lactic acid) with different side-chain structure. The thermal processing properties of CDA-g-PLAs are remarkably improved with melting temperature(Tm) about 140 degrees C which lower than that of CDA and decomposition temperature (Td) higher than 260 degrees C.