title: Multifilament cellulose/chitin blend yarn spun from ionic liquids.
abstract: Cellulose and chitin, both biopolymers, decompose before reaching their melting points. Therefore, processing these unmodified biopolymers into multifilament yarns is limited to solution chemistry. Especially the processing of chitin into fibers is rather limited to distinctive, often toxic or badly removable solvents often accompanied by chemical de-functionalization to chitosan (degree of acetylation, DA, <50%). This work proposes a novel method for the preparation of cellulose/chitin blend fibers using ionic liquids (ILs) as gentle, removable, recyclable and non-deacetylating solvents. Chitin and cellulose are dissolved in ethylmethylimidazolium propionate ([C2mim](+)[OPr](-)) and the obtained one-pot spinning dope is used to produce multifilament fibers by a continuous wet-spinning process. Both the rheology of the corresponding spinning dopes and the structural and physical properties of the obtained fibers have been determined for different biopolymer ratios. With respect to medical or hygienic application, the cellulose/chitin blend fiber show enhanced water retention capacity compared to pure cellulose fibers.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), Denkendorf, Germany; Institute of Polymer Chemistry (IPOC), University Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: kai.mundsinger@itcf-denkendorf.de.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mundsinger
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), Denkendorf, Germany. Electronic address: alexander.mueller@itcf-denkendorf.de.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), Denkendorf, Germany. Electronic address: ronald.beyer@itcf-denkendorf.de.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Beyer
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), Denkendorf, Germany. Electronic address: frank.hermanutz@itcf-denkendorf.de.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hermanutz
authors.affiliation: Institute of Textile Chemistry and Chemical Fibers (ITCF), Denkendorf, Germany; Institute of Polymer Chemistry (IPOC), University Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany. Electronic address: michael.buchmeiser@itcf-denkendorf.de.
authors.forename: Michael R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Buchmeiser
mesh_terms: D001704:Biopolymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D066241:Carbon-13 Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D002482:Cellulose / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000737:chemistry*; D012212:Rheology; D013696:Temperature; D013784:Textiles; D014783:Viscosity; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D001704:Biopolymers; D052578:Ionic Liquids; D014867:Water; D002686:Chitin; D002482:Cellulose
keywords: Biopolymer blend; Cellulose; Chitin; Ionic liquid; Multifilament blend yarn; Wet-spinning