One step dissolution, extrusion, and fiber spinning of chitin using ionic liquid solvents

In this chapter we will discuss a one-step dissolution and fibre spinning method for chitin using ionic liquid 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Acetate (EMImAc) as an environmentally benign solvent. A temperature-sensitive behaviour of chitin/EMImAc solution was observed during the fibre extrusion process. The regenerated chitin fibres were characterised through Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), tensile testing, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Wide Angle X-ray Diffraction (WAXD). Both molecular alignment and mechanical properties of chitin fibre increased as the draw ratio increased, confirmed by tensile testing results and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of WAXD azimuthal scans. The regenerated chitin fibres with well controlled length, and good mechanical properties reported in this work could be potentially useful to explore the second most widely available polymer in nature for engineering and biomedical applications.