Fabrication of fiber supported ionic liquids and methods of use

A method of utilizing a fabricated fiber comprised of a porous polymer network and an immobilized ionic liquid for the separation of a chemical species from a mixture comprised of the chemical species, comprising:

• providing the fabricated fiber, where the fabricated fiber is produced by,
• preparing a dope comprised of the polymer, a solvent, and an ionic liquid, where the polymer is poorly soluble in the ionic liquid, and where the polymer and the ionic liquid are soluble in the solvent, and where the dope is comprised from 10-30 wt % of the polymer, less than about 30 wt % ionic liquid, and greater than about 50 wt % solvent, and where the ionic liquid absorbs the chemical species,
• forming a nascent fiber by extruding the dope through a spinneret and into a gaseous environment over a displacement distance, where the displacement distance separates the spinneret and a coagulation bath, such that the nascent fiber exits the spinneret and travels over the displacement distance, and such that at least some volatiles in the solvent evaporate in the gaseous environment, such that a polymer rich region forms where the nascent fiber contacts the gaseous environment,
• introducing the nascent fiber into the coagulation bath to generate a forming fiber, where the coagulation bath is comprised of a non-solvent, where the non-solvent is miscible with the solvent, and where the polymer is poorly soluble in the non-solvent, and where the ionic liquid is poorly soluble in the non-solvent, and maintaining the forming fiber in the coagulation bath for a residence time, such that a quantity of solvent diffuses from the forming fiber into the non-solvent over the residence time, and such that the quantity of solvent is sufficient to cause at least a portion of the polymer to precipitate to form the porous polymer network and sufficient to cause at least a portion of the ionic liquid to precipitate to form the immobilized ionic liquid within the pores of the porous polymer network and,
• removing the forming fiber from the coagulation bath to generate a fabricated fiber comprised of the immobilized ionic liquid;
• and
• exposing the fabricated fiber to the mixture,
• thereby utilizing the fabricated fiber comprised of the porous polymer network and the immobilized ionic liquid for the separation of the chemical species from the mixture comprised of the chemical species.

A method of providing contact between a gaseous flow and an immobilized liquid utilizing a fabricated fiber, comprising:

• providing the fabricated fiber, where the fabricated fiber is produced by,
• preparing a dope comprised of a polymer, a solvent, and a liquid, where the liquid has the same composition as the immobilized liquid, and where the polymer is poorly soluble in the liquid, and where the polymer and the liquid are soluble in the solvent, and where the dope is comprised from 10-30 wt % of the polymer, less than about 30 wt % of the liquid, and greater than about 50 wt % solvent,
• forming a nascent fiber by extruding the dope through a spinneret and into a gaseous environment over a displacement distance, and where the displacement distance separates the spinneret and a coagulation bath, such that the nascent fiber exits the spinneret and travels over the displacement distance, and such that at least some volatiles in the solvent evaporate in the gaseous environment, such that a polymer rich region forms where the nascent fiber contacts the gaseous environment,
• introducing the nascent fiber into the coagulation bath and generating a forming fiber, where the coagulation bath is comprised of a non-solvent, where the non-solvent is miscible with the solvent, and where the polymer is poorly soluble in the non-solvent, and where the liquid is poorly soluble in the non-solvent, and maintaining the forming fiber in the coagulation bath for a residence time, such that a mass quantity of solvent diffuses from the forming fiber into the non-solvent over the residence time, and such that the mass quantity of solvent is sufficient to cause at least a portion of the polymer to precipitate to form a porous polymer network and sufficient to cause at least a portion of the liquid to precipitate to form immobilized liquid within the pores of the porous polymer network and,
• removing the forming fiber from the coagulation bath to generate the fabricated fiber comprised of the immobilized liquid;
• and
• exposing the fabricated fiber to the gaseous flow,
• thereby providing contact between the gaseous flow and the immobilized liquid utilizing the fabricated fiber.