Novel fibres prepared by cellulose diacetate using ionic liquid as plasticiser

1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, a kind of ionic liquid, was used as a plasticiser of cellulose diacetate and cellulose diacetate fibres were successfully prepared by melt spinning of plasticised cellulose diacetate. The thermal properties of plasticised cellulose diacetate were characterised by dynamic mechanic analysis (DMA) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TG). Thermal analysis results showed that 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate caused a considerable reduction in Tg of cellulose diacetate, and the thermal stability of cellulose diacetate was slightly decreased by 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate. The interaction between cellulose diacetate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate was investigated by FT-IR. Cellulose diacetate fibres with a fineness of 31.0 dtex and a tensile strength of 1.064 cN dtex-1 were prepared by melt spinning. The morphology of cellulose diacetate fibres was also observed by SEM. Therefore, this study presents a novel environment-friendly technology of regenerated cellulose fibre. © W. S. Maney & Son Ltd 2015.