Dissolution performance of cellulose in MIM plus tetrabutylammonium propionate solvent

Novel cellulose solvents, MIM-[N4444][CH3CH2COO], were developed by coupling N-methylimidazole (MIM) with tetrabutyl ammonium propionate ([N4444][CH3CH2COO]). The solubilities of cellulose in MIM-[N4444][CH3CH2COO] solvents were determined at 25 °C. The effect of MIM content on cellulose solubility and the possible dissolution mechanism of cellulose in MIM-[N4444][CH3CH2COO] solvent have been investigated. It was found that [CH3CH2COO]− anion in MIM-[N4444][CH3CH2COO] solvent is the main driving force of the cellulose dissolution by interacting with the hydroxyl hydrogen atom in cellulose, and the role of MIM is mainly to disassociate/dilute [N4444][CH3CH2COO]. In addition, the morphology and structure of the regenerated cellulose materials from MIM-[N4444][CH3CH2COO] solvent were characterized by scanning electron micrograph (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).