Dissolution performance of cellulose in MIM plus tetrabutylammonium propionate solvent

Novel cellulose solvents, MIM-[N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO], were developed by coupling N -methylimidazole (MIM) with tetrabutyl ammonium propionate ([N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO]). The solubilities of cellulose in MIM-[N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO] solvents were determined at 25   °C. The effect of MIM content on cellulose solubility and the possible dissolution mechanism of cellulose in MIM-[N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO] solvent have been investigated. It was found that [CH 3 CH 2 COO] − anion in MIM-[N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO] 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 [N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO]. In addition, the morphology and structure of the regenerated cellulose materials from MIM-[N 4444 ][CH 3 CH 2 COO] solvent were characterized by scanning electron micrograph (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).