Development of low-cost process for pore generation in cellulose acetate by utilizing calcium salts

Abstract

Polymer composite films with straight pores with nano-sized pores were prepared by the water-pressure method. Cellulose acetate was selected as a polymeric support because of accessibility, inexpensive and good thermal stability. For low cost processes, relatively inexpensive metal salt CaCl2 was used as an additive. Added CaCl2 increased the flexibility of the polymer chain. Due to this plasticization, it had been found that when the film was exposed to water pressure, the pore size could be easily adjusted by pressure. In addition, the thermal and mechanical stability of the film was improved by Ca remaining after crosslinking with the polymer chain after water treatment. These pores were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury absorption method. And the interaction between polymer and CaCl2 was confirmed by FT-IR and TGA analysis. (C) 2020 The Korean Society of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.