The degradation behaviors of optical cellulose triacetate films in alkali/acid solutions

Abstract In this research, the degradation behaviors of ramie-based cellulose triacetate (CTA) films in alkali or acid solutions at room temperature were assessed. Moreover, the attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR), physicochemical properties testing, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis/differential scanning calorimeter (TG/DSC) were employed to evaluate the detailed degradation process of the CTA films, which were treated by alkali or acidic aqueous solutions. The research results demonstrated that the dominant reaction of CTA films in NaOH solution with various concentrations is deacetylation. Intriguingly, the degradation behaviors of CTA films in HCl depend on the concentration of acid. The CTA films were almost immune to HCl with the concentration less than 1 mol L−1. However, films were degraded directly when the concentration of acid was higher than 1 mol L−1. This study provides a theoretical basis and further understanding for the treatment of dumped CTA films at room temperature.