Natural wool/cellulose acetate blends regenerated from the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride

Dissolution and blending one of the most commonly used natural polymers, i.e., wool using a green solvent ionic liquid is described. The cleaned natural wool from merino sheep was directly dissolved and regenerated from 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BMIMCl) without any modifications. BMIMCl was subsequently used to develop wool/cellulose acetate (CA) blends. Blending modification of wool in this IL green solvent led to significant increase in glass transition temperature (T_g) and thermal stability compared to the pure components. It was found that there exist strong intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions between regenerated wool and CA. Moreover homogeneous surface morphology was observed in the blends with higher CA concentrations. At the final stage of the blending process, the IL solvent was recycled completely. This work presents a green processing route for development of novel natural wool blended materials.