Recent studies on the application of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILS) in cellulose chemistry have made great progresses. This has been providing a new and versatile platform for the wide utilization of cellulose resources and creation of novel functional materials. In this paper, the research progress in the field of dissolution, regeneration and derivatization of cellulose with RTILs are reviewed. And the perspective of RTIL application in cellulose industry is also discussed. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.