1.Key Laboratory of Bio-Based Polymeric Materials of Zhejiang Province,Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 315201, China
2.Nano Science and Technology Institute, University of Science and Technology of China, Suzhou 230026, China
With the accelerating consumption of petrochemical resources and the increasingly serious problem of environmental pollution, it has brought great challenges to the green and sustainable development of human society. The preparation of new green polymer materials from natural biomass has become the important development direction in the field of material science and technology. Cellulose, as the most abundant non-food renewable biomass raw material, has great potential as a polymer material. The esterified derivatives of cellulose is an important method for endowing cellulose with good processability and functionality. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of reactive systems including heterogeneous systems,DMSO/TBAF, LiCl/DMAc, ionic liquid and CO2 reversible solvent in esterification of cellulose are compared and analyzed, and then the types of esterified derivatives of cellulose and their products obtained in each system are described. As the most important cellulose derivative, development of esterification has great significance to achieve the conversion of cellulose to high-performance green renewable materials. It plays an important role to supply and replace non-renewable fossil resources and to maintain the sustainable development of human society in the future.Furthermore,esterification of cellulose will provide a feasible way to enhance the high-quality conversion and utilization of biomass in the field of polymer materials science and technology and thus to support implementation of the strategic objectives of “emission peak” and “carbon neutrality”.