Sustainable multifunctional bioplastics enabled by ion-engineered rapid dissolution of cellulose at room temperature

Abstract

The scalable production of cellulose plastics is constrained by limitations of existing solvent systems, with alkali-based routes often requiring high energy input and ionic liquids remaining costly. Here, we report a room-temperature and cost-effective dissolution strategy using an FeCl3/ZnCl2/H2O system driven by a synergetic ion-engineered mechanism. Fe 3+ disrupts crystallinity, whereas Zn 2+ facilitates chain dispersion, enabling complete dissolution of cellulose with degrees of polymerization (DP) from 180 to 4080 within 3-40 min, reaching 22 wt% solubility and 74% DP retention. The resulting Fe 3+enhanced cellulose plastic (FC-plastic) achieves a tensile strength of 109.6 MPa, an elongation at break of 20.3%, alongside intrinsic antibacterial and photocatalytic properties. FC-plastic fully biodegrades in soil within 45 days, has a carbon footprint of 1.7 kg CO2-eq/kg, which is 44% lower than polylactic acid (PLA), and can be produced at 2263 $/ton, 35% cheaper than PLA. Our work provides a sustainable approach for producing multifunctional cellulose plastics.