Abstract
As the most abundant natural polymer in nature, cellulose has become the promising alternative raw material to replace fossil-based polymer. Owing to the presence of innumerable hydroxyl groups, various approaches are employed to render processability of cellulose. Herein, a sustainable esterification strategy, mechanochemical-assisted esterification, was developed to produce cellulose oleate (CO) with only a small amount of solvent. The differences in reactivity between all types of cellulose were elucidated. According to thermal stability analysis, the degradation temperature decreased after modification due to the substitution of the long oleoyl group. High degree of substitution (DS) of CO also possessed glass transition temperature (Tg) based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis. Herewith, the processability of cellulose was introduced after modification. In this study, bamboo waste cellulose nanofiber oleate (BW CNF-OA) showed the highest DS (2.28) among the COs. Its higher surface reactivity due to the high surface aspect ratio led to a higher quantity of fatty acids attached to the cellulose. For the mechanical properties, low DS of COs exhibited higher tensile strength values. In a nutshell, this greener approach is more favorable than conventional chemical esterification in terms of reduced solvent dosage and improved sustainability.