Cellulose acetate in the context of Transparencies

Photographic emulsion is a light-sensitive colloid used in film-based photography. Most commonly, in silver-gelatin photography, it consists of silver halide crystals dispersed in gelatin. The emulsion is usually coated onto a substrate of glass, films (of cellulose nitrate, cellulose acetate or polyester), paper, or fabric. The substrate is often flexible and known as a film base.

Photographic emulsion is not a true emulsion, but a suspension of solid particles (silver halide) in a fluid (gelatin in solution). However, the word emulsion is customarily used in a photographic context. Gelatin or gum arabic layers sensitized with dichromate used in the dichromated colloid processes carbon and gum bichromate are sometimes called emulsions. Some processes do not have emulsions, such as platinum, cyanotype, salted paper, or kallitype.

Drypoint is a printmaking technique of the intaglio family, in which an image is incised into a plate (or "matrix") with a hard-pointed "needle" of sharp metal or diamond. In principle, the method is practically identical to engraving. The difference is in the use of tools, and that the raised ridge along the furrow is not scraped or filed away as in engraving. Traditionally the plate was copper, but now acetate, zinc, or plexiglas are also commonly used.

Like etching, drypoint is easier to master than engraving for an artist trained in drawing because the technique of using the needle is closer to using a pencil than the engraver's burin. The incision into the plate is also typically much more shallow, so requiring less effort and technical skill in the use of the engraver's burin, but meaning that fewer impressions (copies) of a print can be pulled before wear to the plate becomes apparent. Modern limited editions of drypoint prints (if not steelfaced) very often have fewer than thirty impressions.

The paper negative process consists of using a negative printed on paper (either photographically or digitally) to create the final print of a photograph, as opposed to using a modern negative on a film base of cellulose acetate. The plastic acetate negative (which is what modern films produce) enables the printing of a very sharp image intended to be as close a representation of the actual subject as is possible. By using a negative based on paper instead, there is the possibility of creating a more ethereal image, simply by using a type of paper with a very visible grain, or by drawing on the paper or distressing it in some way.

One of the original forms of photography was based on the paper negative process. William Henry Fox Talbot's paper negative process, which was used to create his work "The Pencil of Nature", used a negative created on paper treated with silver salts, which was exposed in a camera obscura to create the negative and then contact printed on a similar paper to produce a positive image.

A cel, short for celluloid, is a transparent sheet on which objects are drawn or painted for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Actual celluloid (consisting of cellulose nitrate and camphor) was used during the first half of the 20th century. Since it was flammable and dimensionally unstable, celluloid was largely replaced by cellulose acetate (cellulose diacetate and cellulose triacetate) and polyester. With the advent of computer-assisted animation production (also known as digital ink and paint), the use of cels has been all but obsolete in major productions. Walt Disney Animation Studios stopped using cels in 1990, when Computer Animation Production System (CAPS) replaced this element in their animation process. In the next decade and a half, other animation studios phased cels out as well in favor of digital ink and paint.

A cigarette filter, also known as a filter tip, is a component of a cigarette, along with tobacco, cigarette paper, capsules and adhesives. Modern filters were introduced in the early 1950s.

Filters may be made from plastic cellulose acetate fiber, paper or activated charcoal (either as a cavity filter or embedded into the plastic cellulose acetate fibers). Macroporous phenol-formaldehyde resins and asbestos have also been used. The plastic cellulose acetate filter and paper modify the particulate smoke phase by particle retention (filtration), and finely divided carbon modifies the gaseous phase (adsorption).

Cellulose triacetate, triacetate, CTA or TAC is a chemical compound produced from cellulose and a source of acetate esters, typically acetic anhydride. Triacetate is commonly used for the creation of fibres and film base. It is chemically similar to cellulose acetate. Its distinguishing characteristic is that in triacetate, at least "92 percent of the hydroxyl groups are acetylated." During the manufacture of triacetate, the cellulose is completely acetylated; whereas in normal cellulose acetate or cellulose diacetate, it is only partially acetylated. Triacetate is significantly more heat resistant than cellulose acetate.

Taffeta (archaically spelled taffety or taffata) is a crisp, smooth, plain woven fabric made from silk, nylon, cuprammonium rayons, acetate, or polyester. The word came into Middle English via Old French and Old Italian, which borrowed the Persian word tāfta (تافته), which means "silk" or "linen cloth". As clothing, it is used in ball gowns, wedding dresses, and corsets, and in interior decoration, for curtains or wallcovering. It tends to yield a stiff cloth with a starched appearance that holds its shape better than many other fabrics and does not sag or drape.

Silk taffeta is of two types: yarn-dyed and piece-dyed. Piece-dyed taffeta is often used in linings and is quite soft. Yarn-dyed taffeta is much stiffer and is often used in evening dresses. Shot silk taffeta was one of the most highly-sought forms of Byzantine silk, and may have been the fabric known as purpura.

Vinegar syndrome, also known as acetic acid syndrome, is a condition created by the deacetylation of cellulose acetates (usually cellulose diacetate) and cellulose triacetate. This deacetylation produces acetic acid, giving off a vinegar odor that gives the condition its name; as well, objects undergoing vinegar syndrome often shrink, embrittle, and form crystals on their surface due to the migration of plasticizers. Vinegar syndrome widely affects cellulose acetate film as used in photography. It has also been observed to affect older magnetic tape, where cellulose acetate is used as a base, as well as polarizers used in liquid-crystal display units and everyday plastics such as containers and tableware. High temperatures and fluctuations in relative humidity have been observed to accelerate the process. The process is autocatalytic, and the damage done by vinegar syndrome is irreversible.

Cellulose acetate butyrate (CAB) is a mixed ester thermoplastic derivative of cellulose acetate that contains both acetate and butyrate functional groups. It has improved weathering resistance and lower moisture absorption compared to cellulose acetate. The exact properties of a CAB compound is determined by the composition of butyrate vs acetate functional groups.

CAB is commonly used as a binder or additive in coatings.CAB is widely used for tool handles, due to its toughness and resistance to oil and gasoline. Tools with CAB handles can begin to outgas unpleasant butyric acid odors with age, which one manufacturer combats by adding vanilla scent to the plastic. Another usage of CAB is the production of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses.

Gas mixtures can be effectively separated by synthetic membranes made from polymers such as polyamide or cellulose acetate, or from ceramic materials.

While polymeric membranes are economical and technologically useful, they are bounded by their performance, known as the Robeson limit (permeability must be sacrificed for selectivity and vice versa). This limit affects polymeric membrane use for CO₂ separation from flue gas streams, since mass transport becomes limiting and CO₂ separation becomes very expensive due to low permeabilities. Membrane materials have expanded into the realm of silica, zeolites, metal-organic frameworks, and perovskites due to their strong thermal and chemical resistance as well as high tunability (ability to be modified and functionalized), leading to increased permeability and selectivity. Membranes can be used for separating gas mixtures where they act as a permeable barrier through which different compounds move across at different rates or not move at all. The membranes can be nanoporous, polymer, etc. and the gas molecules penetrate according to their size, diffusivity, or solubility.