Ionic Liquids as New Solvents for Textile Fiber Formation and Modification

Ionic liquids (ILs) with their special characteristics such as low melting point, high thermal stability, electrical conductivity, and good solubility in different chemical liquids, are widely used as new solvents for a large range of inorganic, organic, and polymeric materials. The development of ILs created a great untapped potential for commercial and academic applications to increase operating efficiencies of many chemical processes, including the processing of textiles. A summarizing introduction about ILs, their characterization, the general applications, and the major challenges is presented, followed by previous researches on using ILs for textile fiber formation and modification of their properties.