Title: Sustainable Routes for Synthesis of Fatty Acid Cellulose Esters
Cellulose, as the most common biopolymer in the world, is an important resource to replace fossil-based plastics. Unlike most common commodity plastics, cellulose is not thermoplastic and must be chemically modified to achieve similar melt processability. The modification methods known so far are resource- and energy-intensive, and this stimulates the development of more sustainable technologies. Therefore, cellulose transesterification process is developed, based on new derivatives of plant oils or their production residues, taking advantage of the cellulose esterification medium based on sustainable solvent systems, and mechanochemical effect of reactive extrusion. The outcome of the research creates a sustainable solution for production of fully bio-based, thermoplastic cellulose derivatives for replacing fossil-based plastics.
