High tenacity regenerated chitosan fibers prepared by using the binary ionic liquid solvent (Gly·HCl)-[Bmim]Cl

A binary ionic liquid system was confirmed to be a promising solvent to dissolve chitosan, and the regenerated chitosan fibers were prepared by wet and dry-wet spinning technique respectively. The SEM results show that the chitosan fibers prepared by wet spinning technique present striated surface and round cross section, and the chitosan fibers prepared by dry-wet spinning technique present smooth surface and irregular cross section. The mechanical testing results show that the regenerated chitosan fibers present relatively high tenacity, especially, these prepared by dry-wet spinning process present excellent strength and initial modulus, i.e. 2.1 cN/dtex and 83.5 cN/dtex, which is stronger than that of most reported chitosan fibers. The FT-IR results show that the dissolution of chitosan in the binary ionic liquid system is due to the protonation of NH2 groups in the chitosan chains. Furthermore, a possible reaction during the dissolution and regeneration process is proposed.