Preparation of cellulose particles using an ionic liquid

Abstract

Cellulose is a ubiquitous natural fiber used in various industrial materials and applications. We prepared micron-sized cellulose particles by the solvent releasing method (SRM) in which cellulose-[Bmim]Cl-N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) droplets are dispersed in hexadecane (HD) containing dissolved surfactant. The dispersion is then poured into a large amount of 1-butanol. Since 1-butanol is miscible with HD, [Bmim]Cl, and DMF but not with cellulose, the cellulose particles precipitate out. FTIR and (1)H NMR analyses confirmed that this technique precipitated cellulose and completely removed [Bmim]Cl and DMF from the cellulose-[Bmim]Cl-DMF droplets. Interestingly, the obtained cellulose particles were almost the same size as the original droplets (cellulose, 7 wt%), indicating a microporous structure of the cellulose particles with a large medium content. Although the microporous structure collapsed as the medium evaporated, it was maintained by a freeze-drying technique.

Measurement and correlation of electrical conductivity of ionic liquid [EMIM][DCA] in propylene carbonate and γ-butyrolactone

“…Eq. (6) shows that the relationship between E a and x is linear. Herein the contribution of pure solvent to E a is ignored, thus the relationship between E a and x is a proportion function (E a =B 1 x), where B 1 is the activation energy contributed by [EMIM] [DCA].…”

“…Great attention has been given to ILs due to their outstanding physicochemical properties including low melting temperature, good solvation, negligible vapor pressure, high electrical conductivity, wide electrochemical window and high thermal stability [2,3]. ILs have been successfully applied to many processes, such as organic synthesis and catalysis [4,5], separation processes [6][7][8][9], gas and liquid chromatography [10,11], gas capture [12] and electrochemistry [3,13,14]. Because of their excellent electrochemical characteristics, ILs have been used as electrolytes in fuel cells, double layer capacitors, solar cells and lithium batteries [15][16][17][18][19].…”

Properties and Structure of Cellulosic Membranes Obtained from Solutions in Ionic Liquids Coagulated in Primary Alcohols

“…Chemically, ionic liquids are made of an organic cation and smaller, organic or inorganic anion [5], and the most interesting are the properties of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) [9]. The ability to dissolve cellulose in ionic liquids allows for a relatively simple processing of this polymer to obtain fibers [10][11][12][13][14][15][16], nanofibers [17][18][19] cellulose particles [20], cellulose gels and aerogels [21][22][23][24], flocs [25] and membranes.…”

Thermal and mechanical properties of chitosan nanocomposites with cellulose modified in ionic liquids

“…Even though ionic liquids offer a great opportunity for production of nanocrystalline cellulose (higher degree of homogeneity, less aggressive reaction medium, medium recovery, etc. ), still only few papers regarding application of, e.g., 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate for that purpose were published [14][15][16]. The reason is that currently the main aim of most of the research is to find new ionic liquids that enhance the effectiveness of dissolution of cellulose coming from lignocellulose materials [17][18][19][20][21][22][23] rather than the preparation of nanometric cellulose with ionic liquids.…”