Abstract: Nano-TiO₂/cellulose composite fiber can be widely employed in the processes of textile, material and catalysis, etc. In this work, nano-TiO₂ powder was blended with a solution of cellulose/1-butyl, 3-methylimidazolium chloride (Cl) ionic liquid. The cellulose composite fibers with different nano-TiO₂ content were prepared using wet molding technology. The me-chanical property, morphology and structure of the prepared fiber were further characterized through mechanical testing, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FT-IR), respectively. Photolytic performance of the composities was also investigated with methylene blue as model compound. The results indicate that the nano-TiO₂ content significantly influences the property and morphology of the prepared composite fiber. With increasing nano-TiO₂ content from 2.0 % to 16.7 %, the breaking strength decreases, the initial modulus decreases from 0.139 cN/dtex to 0.077 cN/dtex, but the photoly-tic activity descends first and then ascends. The composite fibers with nano-TiO₂ 16.7 % have a better photplytic activity. The optimized nano-TiO₂ content is 2 %.

Key words: ionic liquid, nano-TiO₂, cellulose fiber, composite