Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Cellulose acetate

kclo4 - 18-2-2005 at 21:46

How can I make it at home it cant be as simple as vinegar and cotton

trilobite - 18-2-2005 at 22:08

It takes acetic anhydride to do that.

kclo4 - 18-2-2005 at 22:13

Is there any other way and were can I or how can I get acetic anhydride

AngelEyes - 19-2-2005 at 03:13

Isn't Cellulose Acetate the stuff they use for cigarette filters?

Could be expensive if you're not a smoker though...

sparkgap - 19-2-2005 at 03:15

This thread should be of help.

The only other way is to use acetyl chloride, and trust me, you would do well to stick to the anhydride. ;)

sparky (^_^)

Film

MadHatter - 19-2-2005 at 17:43

Isn't camera film based on cellulose acetate ?
Just a thought.

sparkgap - 19-2-2005 at 22:54

Yes, that is true. It replaced cellulose nitrate (Celluloid) for this purpose.

Mylar (PET) is sometimes used.

sparky (^_^)

Saerynide - 20-2-2005 at 10:48

Transparencies (those clear plastic sheets for overhead projectors) are made of cellulose acetate.

Fluorite - 2-11-2020 at 08:48

Can I hydrolyze cellulose acetate to cellulose and acetic acid?

njl - 2-11-2020 at 13:45

Yes

Fluorite - 2-11-2020 at 21:40

OMG! Really!? We're in Tunisia trying to recycle old cigarettes There's a lot everywhere and I know someone wants to recycle the cotton which is cellulose acetate! He collected a lot of cigarettes in the past 5 months and he asked me to help. if cellulose acetate can be hydrolyze using sodium hydroxide or something we can make ethanol, acetic acid, acetone from cigarettes!

[Edited on 3-11-2020 by Fluorite]

njl - 3-11-2020 at 07:06

If you would like to produce acetic acid from cellulose acetate by hydrolysis I would recommend acid hydrolysis because

1. Using NaOH will not give you acetic acid, it will leave sodium acetate
2. Cellulose is degraded by aqueous NaOH

By using HCl for example you will end up with acetic acid in solution, with cellulose left behind as it is almost entirely insoluble in water. I'm not sure exactly how you would efficiently make ethanol and acetone though.

unionised - 3-11-2020 at 11:46

Quote: Originally posted by njl  
If you would like to produce acetic acid from cellulose acetate by hydrolysis I would recommend acid hydrolysis because

1. Using NaOH will not give you acetic acid, it will leave sodium acetate
2. Cellulose is degraded by aqueous NaOH

By using HCl for example you will end up with acetic acid in solution, with cellulose left behind as it is almost entirely insoluble in water. I'm not sure exactly how you would efficiently make ethanol and acetone though.

I'm fairly sure the acid will hydrolyse the cellulose to glucose at least as fast as it hydrolysis cellulose acetate to cellulose and acetic acid.

It's true that cellulose is degraded by sodium hydroxide, but I think that reaction is typically slower.

Fluorite - 4-11-2020 at 02:51

YO I don't care what happens to cellulose! It's amazing I can make SODIUM FREAKING ACETATE! From cigarette filters!

Fluorite - 4-11-2020 at 02:54

Or I can hydrolyze cellulose acetate using calcium hydroxide to make calcium acetate! And then pyrolyse this to ACETONE are YOu SerIouS! ;D

unionised - 4-11-2020 at 12:03

You can certainly make sodium acetate that way.
Calcium acetate may be more difficult. The solubility of Ca(OH)2 is very low so the solutions are dilute and only react slowly.
It should work, but it will be slow.
Cleaning up the used cigarette neds is a good thing to do, but I find it hard to believe that it's worthwhile compared to adding NaOH to spoiled beer or whatever.

Acid hydrolysis of the filters will give glucose which can be fermented to ethanol, and then to acetic acid.