Patent ID: 8383026

Claim:
A method of producing a fabricated fiber comprised of a porous polymer network and an immobilized ionic liquid, comprising: 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; 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 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 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 withdrawing the forming fiber from the coagulation bath to generate the fabricated fiber, thereby producing the fabricated fiber comprised of the polymer and immobilized ionic liquid.