Regeneration of silk and silk-like fibers from ionic liquid spin dopes

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process of forming fibers of silk and silk-like proteins in a solution with a solvent consisting of a pure ionic liquid, an ionic liquid mixture, an ionic liquid mixed with one or more cosolvents, or an ionic liquid mixture mixed with one or more cosolvents. A solution is extruded through a spinneret orifice to form a fiber. The spinneret is either directly immersed in the coagulation bath or the spinneret is surrounded by a noncoagulating medium (i.e., air or other inert fluid) and the extruded fiber is subsequently immersed in a coagulation bath. Fibers may also be formed by extruding a fiber directly from a reservoir of solution into a noncoagulating, inert medium and then immersing the extruded fibers into a coagulation bath to rinse the fiber of ionic liquid.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.