A novel procedure for synthesizing cellulose acetate particles from ramie fiber was developed. The optimum conditions for preparing cellulose acetate (CA) by reaction of ramie fiber with acetic anhydride under an acidic condition were determined. Reaction was carried out in a ratio of ramie fiber to acetic anhydride of 1:6 (w/w) at 80 degrees C for 0.5-1 h. When CA was added to a mixture of water and acetone, CA particles with a well-distributed diameter ranging from 5 to 15 Pin were obtained. The difference of the CA particle surface was resulting from different washing methods of CA particles with water or aqueous sodium bicarbonate. The highest degree of substitution (DS) of 2.50 for CA by titration method was achieved. A new adsorbent was prepared from CA, which is an excellent sorption regent for organic waste in water. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and particle size distribution results showed that the average size of CA particles is about 5-15 mu m in diameter. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to determine the stability of ramie fiber and CA particle. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.