As the most abundant polymer in the world, cellulose possesses desirable mechanical properties as well as excellent renewability, biodegradability and biocompatibility. However, it is insoluble in traditional solvents like water and ethanol. Hazardous solvents are used in current dissolution processes of cellulose, leaving a large environmental footprint. Ionic liquids (ILs) have been utilized as ‘green’ solvents for cellulose for a number of years. However, the sub-optimal mechanical properties of previous regenerated cellulose fibres hinder their potential applications in the composite materials industry. In the current work we have established a continuous and high speed manufacturing process for regenerated cellulose fibres using IL solvents, to produce strong cellulose fibres by achieving high fibre stretching during the spinning process. We also used different types of nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes and graphene to reinforce the spun cellulose fibres. The regenerated cellulose fibres and nanocomposite fibres were characterized using tensile testing, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction (WAXD). The sustainable and high performance cellulose fibres with good molecular orientation (Fig 1) can be potentially utilized as a replacement for glass fibers and other non-renewable synthetic fibers currently used in textiles and the composite materials industry.

Manufacturing strong regenerated cellulose nano-composite fibres

251st National Meeting (2016)

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