PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF WATER-SOLUBLE AND CROSS-LINKABLE CELLULOSE ACRYLATE

Abstract

The reaction of cellulose with acryloyl chloride in LiCl/N,N-dimethyl acetamide resulted in a water soluble cellulose acrylate. The degree of substitution per anhydroglucose unit was determined from the titration of the double bond with bromine. Crosslinking of the acryloyl moieties was carried out in aqueous solution using K2S2O8/FeSO4 as redox initiator. The original cellulose, cellulose acrylate and the crosslinked cellulose acrylate were characterized by i.r., wide-angle X-ray diffraction, d.s.c., t.g.a. and solid state C-13 n.m.r. Crosslinked cellulose is insoluble in water and the gel fraction was measured with a Soxhlet extractor. The fundamental properties of the crosslinked cellulose acrylate films were evaluated. Experimental results indicated that this water soluble and crosslinkable cellulose acrylate is a promising candidate as a water-borne coating material.