Effect of alkylimidazolium based ionic liquids on the structure of UV-irradiated cellulose

In this paper, the influence of three alkylimidazolium-based ionic liquids with the same cation (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium) and different anions (chloride, tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate) on the structure and properties of cellulose, have been studied by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy measurements, fluorescence microscopy imaging, viscometric and methylene blue sorption tests. Cellulose treated with ionic liquids showed better stability to UV light, as demonstrated by the lower variations of the polymerization degree, carboxyl groups content, moisture index, crystallinity index, lateral order index and allomorph index, with the increase of the UV exposure period, by comparing to non-treated cellulose. The results show that the tested ionic liquids could be effective as “green” plasticizers and UV stabilizers for cellulose-based materials.