| Abstract: | The demixing behavior on cooling of ternary systems of cellulose acetate/solvent/water has been examined for CA concentrations up to 40 wt% CA in several solvents. Cloud points have been measured as a function of cooling rate. The rapid process of liquid—liquid demixing can be discriminated from the slow process of aggregate formation by examining the dependence of the cloud point on the cooling rate and by structure analysis of quenched solutions with scanning electron microscopy. The appearance of aggregate formation depends strongly on the type of solvent. Slow cooling of ternary solutions in which acetone is the solvent leads to aggregate formation long before liquid—liquid demixing occurs. In addition, isothermal sol—gel transitions have been measured for quenched solutions at varying gelation times. It is concluded that gelation is not always preceded by aggregate formation. |
