PREPARATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF CELLULOSE-ACETATE ORGANIC-INORGANIC HYBRID FILMS

A series of organic/inorganic hybrid (OIH) films were prepared using c ellulose acetate (CA) as the organic component and tetraethyl orthosil icate (TEOS) as the inorganic component. The chemical, morphological, and mechanical properties of these films were evaluated with a variety of analytical techniques. The results of these evaluations showed tha t crosslinked CA OIH films were formed during the sol-gel reactions. T he structure of OIH films was very sensitive to the CA/TEOS ratio and film formation conditions. All of the films with added TEOS were two p hase on a molecular level i.e., inorganic TEOS domains surrounded by a CA matrix. Under some film formation conditions the presence of TEOS, a nonsolvent for CA, led to solvent/nonsolvent phase separation on th e micron scale. (C) 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.