Structure-Property Relationships of Short Chain (Mixed) Cellulose Esters Synthesized in a DMSO/TMG/CO₂ Switchable...

Increasing environmental pollution and petroleum resource depletion are important indicators for the necessary and inevitable replacement of fossil-based polymeric materials with more sustainable counterparts. Hence, the development of bio-based materials from renewable resources, such as cellulose, is of great importance. Herein, we introduce a rapid and homogeneous microwave assisted synthesis of high molecular weight (59 kDa ≤ M_n ≤ 116 kDa) short chain (mixed) cellulose esters (CEs) with variable acyl side chain length (2 ≤ C ≤ 8) by using a DMSO/TMG/CO₂ switchable solvent system. Accordingly, (mixed) CEs were synthesized by implementing tetramethylguanidine (TMG) into a switchable solvent system (DMSO/TMG/CO₂), followed by in-depth structural characterization via IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and SEC. Examination of the structure-property relationships revealed a decrease in the glass transition temperature (177 °C ≤ T_g ≤ 204 °C), an increase in surface hydrophobicity, i.e., water contact angle (WCA) (65° ≤ WCA ≤ 98°), and a decrease of Young's modulus (7.51 MPa ≤ E ≤ 13.6 MPa), with longer alkyl side chains.