Cellulose is set to become a bio-renewable feed-stock to rival petroleum-based alternatives, according to Shengdong Zhu of Wuhan Institute of Chemical Technology, China.

Scientists have recently discovered that cellulose can be dissolved in ionic liquids, which are green non-volatile solvents. Ionic liquids can be used to extract cellulose from plants and the dissolved cellulose can either be converted into cellulose composites, which may be superior alternatives to petroleum-based polymers, or used as a source of common chemicals.

Cellulose is the most abundant renewable resource in the world and cellulose-containing materials have been proposed as alternatives to petroleum-based feed-stocks.  The main problem which has prevented the use of cellulose as a renewable source of chemicals has been that it is insoluble in common solvents.  It is therefore difficult to extract cellulose from plants and convert it into basic chemicals. 

Scientists hope that using ionic liquids in this way will reduce the chemical industry's reliance on non-renewable, petroleum based feed-stocks. The impact of these developments is expected to be far-reaching.

Walter Leitner, chair of technical chemistry at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, agreed: 'This could be another area for ionic liquids to outperform molecular solvents. BASF has announced that it has taken a licence from the University of Alabama on an ionic liquid technology to dissolve cellulose, demonstrating that there is some serious economic interest behind this development.' 

Zhu plans to 'draw much attention from the government, researchers and companies in developing such "green" processes'. The main challenge now facing researchers is 'to lower the cost of these processes,' he said, 'and solve the related engineering problems in commercialization'.  

Rebecca I Gillan