Preparation and characterization of alkyl ketene dimer (AKD) modified cellulose composite membrane

► Cellulose was completely dissolved in LiCl/DMAc to form the homogeneous system. In the homogeneous system, the hydrogen bonds between the cellulose molecular chains were destroyed. The accessibility and activity of cellulose in the homogeneous system were much higher than the heterogeneous conditions. ► Under the homogeneous conditions, cellulose reacted with AKD. The reaction product, β-keto esters, was detected by FTIR, TGA, SEM, WXRD, etc. ► AKD modified cellulose blend membrane was prepared. The water absorption and water flux of composite membrane obviously decreased comparing with unmodified cellulose membrane.