Dissolution performance of cellulose in [A(2)im][MOA]/MIM solvents

Cellulose solvents ([A(2)im][MOA]/MIM) were developed by combining diallylimidazolium methoxyacetate ([A(2)im][MOA]) with N-methylimidazole (MIM). The cellulose solubilities in the ([A(2)im][MOA]/MIM) solvents were determined at 25 °C, and the effect of the MIM/[A(2)im][MOA] molar ratio on cellulose solubility was systematically investigated. Attractively, the solvents show cellulose solubility as high as 25.2 g 100 g(−1) even at 25 °C. It is proposed that the H2, H4 and H6 in [A(2)im](+) and the carboxyl O atom in [MOA](−) primarily contribute to the dissolution of cellulose; MIM mainly acts to dissociate [A(2)im][MOA] into [A(2)im](+) and [MOA](−), and stabilize the dissolved cellulose chains. Moreover, the porous cellulose materials with varying morphological structures could be tailored by simply tuning the cellulose solution concentration, and the formation mechanism of the cellulose material was discussed.