A novel cellulose hydrogel was prepared by regenerating cellulose from its ionic liquid (IL) 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (AMIMCl) solution.The results from elemental analysis and FTIR spectroscopy indicate that the cellulose hydrogel was composed of only natural cellulose and water.Therefore

the hydrogel is non-toxic and can be a promising material in bioengineering.UV-Vis spectra demonstrate that the cellulose hydrogel has a good transparency

especially in the larger wavelength region.For instance

a 2 mm-thick hydrogel can reach 80% transmittance at 650 nm.The results of compression test show that the cellulose hydrogel has an acceptable mechanical property.All the cellulose gels (the cellulose content differs from 1% to 3%) can bear a strain more than 50% upon compression without failure

which allows normal handle in applications.Numerous nano-pores with size of 20~60 nm can be observed from the SEM images of the cellulose hydrogel

indicating that the hydrogel may be utilized in separating nano-sized objects.In this study

we find that cellulose hydrogels reconstituted from its IL solution can be used as the diffusion matrix in gel electrophoresis (GE)

and our preliminary results show that dyes and even proteins can be successfully separated.As a green material

the cellulose gel is expected to overcome the disadvantages of the polyacrylamide gel

which is traditionally used in GE.The mechanism of the formation of cellulose hydrogel from its IL solution was also discussed.It is observed that several kinds of solvents can prepare cellulose hydrogel from its IL solution.The experiment results suggest that the properties of a certain solvent determine whether cellulose gel can be prepared in the solvent bath.If the solvent is miscible with the IL

and the molecule of the solvent has one or more active H atom

then the solvent may form a H-bonding network with the IL solution

which is helpful for the formation of the cellulose gel.