Impact of non-solvents on the structural features and enzymatic digestibility of cellulose regenerated from an ionic liquid

The choice of non-solvent has a dramatic influence on the morphology/crystallinity of regenerated cellulose obtained following ionic liquid (IL) dissolution. This, in turn, greatly impacts the enzymatic digestibility of the cellulose. The use of ethanol (in contrast to water) provides a high surface-area, amorphous regenerated material ideal for hydrolysis—ethanol is also more facile to separate from the IL than water during the recovery/recycling process for the IL.