Acetylation of rice straw for thermoplastic applications

An inexpensive and biodegradable thermoplastic was developed through acetylation of rice straw (RS) with acetic anhydride. Acetylation conditions were optimized. The structure and properties of acetylated RS were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR), solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy, X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results showed that acetylation of RS has successfully taken place, and comparing with raw RS, the degree of crystallinity decreased and the decomposition rate was slow. The acetylated RS has got thermoplasticity when weight ratio of RS and acetic anhydride was 1:3, using sulphuric acid (9% to RS) as catalyst in glacial acetic acid 35 °C for 12 h, and the dosage of solvent was 9 times RS, in which weight percent gain (WPG) of the modified RS powder was 35.5% and its percent acetyl content was 36.1%. The acetylated RS could be formed into transparent thin films with different amount of plasticizer diethyl phthalate (DEP) using tape casting technology.