Ionic Liquid-based Solvents for Natural Fiber Welding

摘要

Certain ionic liquids (ILs) are known to be efficient solvents forbiopolymers. That said, solvent efficacy is strongly impacted bythe presence of both adventitious molecular components andpurposeful additives. For example, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumacetate often contains water and acetic acid (polar protic)impurities (by-products of IL synthesis) that can have significanteffects upon the dissolution of biopolymers. Additionally, ILs canbe mixed with solvents such as acetonitrile (polar aprotic) that alsoimpact the dissolution process. Data are presented that explore theeffect of IL-based solvent composition on fiber welding: thecontrolled, partial dissolution of fibrous materials to createcomposite materials. Results suggest that IL-based solvents can betailored for specific outcomes. Additionally, the fiber weldingprocesses and material analysis techniques utilized are themselvesuseful to quantify solvent efficacy.