Carboxylate functionalized imidazolium-based zwitterions as benign and sustainable solvent for cellulose dissolution: Synthesis and characterization

•Thermally stable and recyclable solvents for cellulose dissolution and processing.•Alkyl chain lengths of anion on imidazolium ring influences cellulose dissolution.•Only hexanoate containing zwitterions exhibited ∼13% (w/w) cellulose dissolution.•Cellulose solution in aq zwitterions are viscoelastic and in fibre spinning range.•Solvent recovery after cellulose dissolution and regeneration is >99.8%. Cellulose is most abundant biopolymer on earth and can be utilized as sustainable resources for many applications, however, their utilization at great extent is limited due to lack of benign and recyclable solvent. While N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), used in Lyocell process, is thermally unstable and may undergoes runaway conditions, commercialization of ionic liquid as solvent still suffers from recyclability issues. Herein, we present the synthesis of a series of zwitterions, composed of tethered alkyl imidazolium cation and carboxylate anion, and investigated their cellulose dissolution characteristics. Effect of alkyl chain length of imidazolium ring on its dissolution efficiencies was studied and amongst synthesized zwitterions, the hexanoate derivatives exhibited 13% (w/w) cellulose dissolution at 100–125 °C. Thermal stability of zwitterions and their cellulose solution was characterized by DSC-TGA and found to be more stable than the NMMO and Lyocell solution. Rheological studies indicate that cellulose solution in zwitterions are viscoelastic and in spinnable range of fibre processing. Structural and morphological characterization of regenerated cellulose using elemental analysis, FTIR, DSC-TGA, GPC, XRD and SEM showed that zwitterions have no adverse effect on its physicochemical and morphological properties. A method for recovery and purification of solvent after cellulose dissolution and regeneration is also presented.