Abstract: A comparative investigation was performed on the cellulose acetate (CA) plasticized with three eco-friendly plasticizers including polyethyleneglycol (PEG), the mixture of glyceryl triacetate and acetyl citric acid alkyl ester (GA) and the one with traditional diethyl phthalate (DEP). The results indicated that, when the loading of plasticizer was fixed at 30 phr, the CA compound with PEG exhibited lower strength, higher water absorption and lower melt flow rate than those with the other two. On the other hand, compounds with GA and DEP presented the same tensile strength, water absorption, tear strength and migration rate of the plasticizer, whereas its elongation at break increased by 58.7 % in comparison with DEP.

Key words: cellulose diacetate, environmental plasticizer, phthalate free, migration rate