Kai Leonhard and co-workers at the Univeristy of Stuttgart, Germany, provide an insight into the solvation mechanism of ionic liquids for cellulose dissolution using COSMO-RS combined with some other modelling studies. From the screening of more than 2200 ionic liquids, it is suggested that the anion as mainly responsible for the respective dissolving power. The German team also identified some new ionic liquids as potential candidates for cellulose dissolution. The results are in good qualitative agreement with those from the experimental data available in the literature.
Read the full article here: http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c0gc00200c
