Acetone-soluble cellulose acetate extracted from waste blended fabrics via ionic liquid catalyzed acetylation

•Facilely and environmental-friendly separating of the blended fabrics.•IL was used as a novel catalyst to acetylate cellulose rather than a solvent.•“One-pot” synthesis of acetone-soluble CA, which is industrially important. Isolation of cellulose from waste polyester/cotton blended fabrics (WBFs) is a bottleneck for recycling and exploiting waste textiles. The objective of this study was to provide a new environmental-friendly and efficient approach for extracting cellulose derivatives and polyester from WBFs. A Bronsted acidic ionic liquid (IL) N-methyl-imidazolium bisulfate, [Hmim]HSO4, was used as a novel catalyst for acetylation of cellulose rather than a solvent with the aim to overcome low isolation efficiency associated with the very high viscosity and relatively high costs of ILs. The extraction yield of acetone-soluble cellulose acetate (CA) was 49.3%, which corresponded to a conversion of 84.5% of the cellulose in the original WBFs; meanwhile, 96.2% of the original poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) was recovered. The extracted CA was characterized by 1H NMR, FTIR, XRD and TGA analysis, and the results indicated that high purity acetone-soluble CA and carbohydrate-free PET could be isolated in this manner from WBFs.