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An integrated extraction–separation process: extraction and selective separation of chlorophylls and betalains using thermoreversible aqueous biphasic systems.

Compartmentalized structures obtained in all-aqueous settings have shown promising properties as cell encapsulation devices, as well as reactors for trans-membrane chemical reactions. While most approaches focus on the preparation of spherical devices, advances on the production of complex architectures have been enabled by the interfacial stability conferred by emulsion systems, namely mild aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS), or non-equilibrated analogues. However, the application of non-spherical structures has mostly been reported while keeping the fabricated materials at a stable interface, limiting the free-standing character, mobility and transposition of the obtained structures to different setups. Here, the fabrication of self-standing, malleable and perfusable tubular systems through all-aqueous interfacial assembly is shown, culminating in the preparation of independent objects with stability and homogeneity after disruption of the polymer-based aqueous separating system. Those hollow structures can be fabricated with a variety of widths, and rapidly printed as long structures at flow rates of 15 mm s-1 . The materials are used as compartments for cell culture, showcasing high cytocompatibility, and can be tailored to promote cell adhesion. Such structures may find application in fields that benefit from freeform tubular structures, including the biomedical field with, for example, cell encapsulation, and benchtop preparation of microfluidic devices. published

The therapeutic effectiveness and biological relevance of technologies based on adherent cells depend on platforms that enable long-term culture in controlled environments. Liquid-core capsules have been suggested as semipermeable moieties with spatial homogeneity due to the high mobility of all components in their core. The lack of cell-adhesive sites in liquid-core structures often hampers their use as platforms for stem cell-based technologies for long-term survival and cell-directed self-organization. Here, the one-step fast formation of robust polymeric capsules formed by interfacial complexation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in an all-aqueous environment, compatible with the simultaneous encapsulation of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and microcarriers, is described. The adhesion of umbilical cord MSCs to polymeric microcarriers enables their aggregation and culture for more than 21 days in capsules prepared either manually by dropwise addition, or by scalable electrohydrodynamic atomization, generating robust and stable capsules. Cell aggregation and secretion overtime can be tailored by providing cells with static or dynamic (bioreactor) environments.

Background The use of antibodies, such as immunoglobulin G (IgG), has faced a significant growth in the past decades for biomedical and research purposes. However, antibodies are high cost biopharmaceuticals, for which the development of alternative and cost-effective purification strategies is still in high demand. Results Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of poly(propylene glycol) (PPG) and cholinium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated for the separation of IgG. The ABS phase diagrams were determined and characterized whenever required. Initial optimization studies with commercial IgG were carried out, followed by the extraction of IgG from rabbit serum. In all ABS, IgG preferentially partitions to the IL-rich phase, unveiling preferential interactions between IgG and ILs. Good results were obtained with commercial IgG, with extraction efficiencies ranging between 93% and 100%, and recovery yields ranging between 20% and 100%. Two of the best and two of the worst identified ABS were then evaluated in what concerns their performance to separate and recover IgG from rabbit serum. With these ABS, extraction efficiencies of 100% and recovery yields > 80% were obtained, indicating an increase in the recovery yield and extraction efficiencies when using real matrices. Under the best conditions studied, IgG with a purity level of 49% was obtained in a single-step. This purity level of IgG is higher than those previously reported using other IL-polymer ABS. Conclusion IgG preferentially migrates to the IL-rich phase in ABS formed by ILs and polymers, allowing the design of effective separation systems for its recovery from serum samples.

Background Levodopa is a precursor of several neurotransmitters, such as dopamine, and is used in the treatment of the Parkinson's disease. In this work, an alternative strategy was studied to separate levodopa from similar biomolecules using aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS). Results Ternary ATPS composed of polyethylene glycol (PEG) 400 or ionic liquids (ILs), citrate buffer (K3C6H5O7/C6H8O7) at pH 7.0 and water, and quaternary ATPS composed of PEG 400, K3C6H5O7/C6H8O7 at pH 7.0, water and the same ILs at 5 wt%, were studied. The respective liquid-liquid phase diagrams were determined at 298 K to appraise the mixture compositions required to form two-phase systems, followed by studies of the partition of levodopa and structurally similar biomolecules (dopamine, L-phenylalanine, and L-tyrosine). Their partition coefficients and extraction efficiencies have been determined, and the selectivity of the ATPS to separate levodopa from the remaining biomolecules evaluated. Conclusion The results obtained indicated that PEG-based ATPS were the most effective to separate levodopa from L-phenylalanine while the separation from the other biomolecules was better using IL-based ATPS, in particular those based on [P4444]Cl and [N4444]Cl, with extraction efficiencies of levodopa to the salt-rich phase ranging between 62.7 and 74.0%, and of the remaining biomolecules to polymer/IL-rich phase up to 91.5%.

Residential buildings are significant contributors to global energy consumption. Hence, numerous articles have studied occupants’ energy behaviors to promote households’ change toward energy efficiency. However, the drivers of these behaviors, analyzed in a unified view of several perspectives, have not been fully explored in the literature. Moreover, the intention to adopt an energy-efficient heating appliance (EEHA) has never been investigated in order to understand what drives people to change their current appliances. To fill this gap, our work gathers six relevant contexts (triggers, barriers, engagement, house characteristics, co-benefits, and communication channels) to predict behavior change (both attitude on heating equipment use and intention to change to an EEHA). We tested our model based on a sample of 1611 observations collected in five European countries, using structural equation modeling. Our work reveals the significance of energy efficiency and labeling as motivations, and operation and maintenance as barriers. Co-benefits and communication channels also greatly affect consumer behavior intention, namely organizational and web media channels. Our results also emphasize the importance of consumer engagement in the topic of energy, being the strongest effect on behavior intention. These findings have practical implications for both energy and governmental organizations to increase households’ energy efficiency.

The identification of biphasic systems composed of aprotic ionic liquids (ILs) allows the development of new separation processes constituted only by non-volatile solvents. In this work, it is shown that mixtures of cholinium- and phosphonium-based ILs, either with common or different anions, lead to the formation of two-phase systems. Six pairs of ILs were found to be able to form biphasic systems, and the respective liquid-liquid phase diagrams were determined from (333.15 to 423.15) K. Although IL anions do not seem to control the phase separation phenomenon, they play, nevertheless, an important role on defining the size of the biphasic region. A linear dependence of the ILs mutual solubilities with the IL anions volume was found, therefore supporting the relevance of the entropy of mixing to create liquid-liquid systems formed by two ILs. With the exception of the liquid-liquid system formed by ILs with a common anion, the remaining systems display a significant ion exchange extent (from 21 to 50%, in mole fraction percentage) between the phases. Although not completely understood up to date, it is here demonstrated that the ion exchange extent inversely depends on the ILs cohesive energy, according to the determined dissociation energies of each ion pair, following a linear trend. These novel biphasic systems may be used in separation processes, and it is finally shown that four-phase systems can be prepared with a remarkable performance in the separation of mixtures of dyes.

project CICECO-Aveiro Institute of Materials, UID/CTM/50011/2019. Associate Laboratory for Green Chemistry-LAQV, FCT Ref. UID/QUI/50006/2019. POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016403. Investigator FCT project IF/00621/2015. Programa Mais Centro under project CENTRO-07-ST24-FEDER-002008. COMPETE: PEst-C/SAU/UI0709/2011. The food industry produces significant amounts of waste, many of them rich in valuable compounds that could be recovered and reused in the framework of circular economy. The development of sustainable and cost-effective technologies to recover these value added compounds will contribute to a significant decrease of the environmental footprint and economic burden of this industry sector. Accordingly, in this work, aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) composed of cholinium-derived bistriflimide ionic liquids (ILs) and carbohydrates were investigated as an alternative process to simultaneously separate and recover antioxidants and carbohydrates from food waste. Aiming at improving the biocompatible character of the studied ILs and proposed process, cholinium-derived bistriflimide ILs were chosen, which were properly designed by playing with the cation alkyl side chain and the number of functional groups attached to the cation to be able to create ABS with carbohydrates. These ILs were characterized by cytotoxicity assays toward human intestinal epithelial cells (Caco-2 cell line), demonstrating to have a significantly lower toxicity than other well-known and commonly used fluorinated ILs. The capability of these ILs to form ABS with a series of carbohydrates, namely monosaccharides, disaccharides and polyols, was then appraised by the determination of the respective ternary liquid-liquid phase diagrams at 25 degrees C. The studied ABS were finally used to separate carbohydrates and antioxidants from real food waste samples, using an expired vanilla pudding as an example. With the studied systems, the separation of the two products occurs in one-step, where carbohydrates are enriched in the carbohydrate-rich phase and antioxidants are mainly present in the IL-rich phase. Extraction efficiencies of carbohydrates ranging between 89 and 92% to the carbohydrate-rich phase, and antioxidant relative activities ranging between 65 and 75% in the IL-rich phase were obtained. Furthermore, antioxidants from the IL-rich phase were recovered by solid-phase extraction, and the IL was recycled for two more times with no losses on the ABS separation performance. Overall, the obtained results show that the investigated ABS are promising platforms to simultaneously separate carbohydrates and antioxidants from real food waste samples, and could be used in further related applications foreseeing industrial food waste valorization. publishersversion published

The therapeutic effectiveness and biological relevance of technologies based on adherent cells depend on platforms that enable long-term culture in controlled environments. Liquid-core capsules have been suggested as semipermeable moieties with spatial homogeneity due to the high mobility of all components in their core. The lack of cell-adhesive sites in liquid-core structures often hampers their use as platforms for stem cell-based technologies for long-term survival and cell-directed self-organization. Here, the one-step fast formation of robust polymeric capsules formed by interfacial complexation of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes in an all-aqueous environment, compatible with the simultaneous encapsulation of mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) and microcarriers, is described. The adhesion of umbilical cord MSCs to polymeric microcarriers enables their aggregation and culture for more than 21 days in capsules prepared either manually by dropwise addition, or by scalable electrohydrodynamic atomization, generating robust and stable capsules. Cell aggregation and secretion overtime can be tailored by providing cells with static or dynamic (bioreactor) environments.

The order of the salting-in or salting-out inducing ability of ions on the aqueous solubility of macromolecules in aqueous solutions is known as the Hofmeister series. Taking into account that ionic liquids (ILs) are constituted by ions, they can exert similar effects on the solubility of other ILs in aqueous media. In order to expand the knowledge on the salting-in/-out ability of ILs, experimental studies on the solubility of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonylimide) in water in presence of other IL/salts were conducted at 298.15 K at atmospheric pressure. Both the impact of the anion and cation of the IL were evaluated with the following ILs/salts: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogensulfate, cholinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, in a wide composition range. As happens with common salts, both salting-in and salting-out effects exerted by ILs were observed, with a higher impact exerted by the IL anion on the salting-out phenomenon. These data allow to better understand the ILs impact when designing liquid-liquid separation processes. published

Sustainable hydrophobic eutectic solvents, composed of low-priced and biodegradable terpenes and fatty acids, were used for the extraction and separation of Cu(ii) from other transition metals in mildly acidic solutions. Multiple parameters were evaluated for metal extraction and the hydrophobic eutectic solvent was successfully recovered and reused. This work was part of BATRE-ARES project (ERA-MIN/0001/2015) funded by ADEME and FCT and partly developed in the scope of the project CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (FCT Ref. UID/CTM/50011/2013). C. M. S. S. Neves acknowledges FCT for the postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/109057/2015). M. A. R. Martins acknowledges financial support from NORTE 2020 (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER- 000006) and DeepBiorefinery (PTDC/AGRTEC/1191/2014) projects. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) formed by water, ionic liquids (ILs), and salts, in which the two phases are water rich, are demonstrated here to act as potential membrane‐free batteries. This concept is feasible due to the selective enrichment of redox organic molecules in each aqueous phase of ABS, which spontaneously form two liquid‐phases above given concentrations of salt and IL. Therefore, the required separation of electrolytes in the battery is not driven by an expensive membrane that hampers mass transfer, but instead, by the intrinsic immiscibility of the two liquid phases. Moreover, the crosscontamination typically occurring through the ineffective membranes is determined by the partition coefficients of the active molecules between the two phases. The phase diagrams of a series of IL‐based ABS are characterized, the partition coefficients of several redox organic molecules are determined, and the electrochemistry of these redox‐active immiscible phases is evaluated, allowing appraisal of the battery performance. Several redox ABS that may be used in total aqueous membrane‐free batteries with theoretical battery voltages as high as 1.6 V are identified. The viability of a membrane‐free battery composed of an IL‐based ABS containing methyl viologen and 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy as active species is demonstrated.

Solid-liquid equilibria (SLE) data for two binary organic mixtures of N-(2-methoxyethyl)-p-nitroaniline+Nethyl- 4-nitroaniline (S1) and N-(2-ethanol)-p-nitroaniline+N-ethyl-4-nitroaniline (S2) have been measured using differential scanning calorimeter to build the corresponding solid-liquid phase diagrams. The quality of the SLE data has been checked by consistency tests, presenting good quality factors for both systems. Simple eutectic behavior has been observed for these systems with the presence of a solid-solid transition for S2. The SLE data have been correlated by means of Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC equations. The used models calculate the equilibrium temperatures very satisfactorily. The best modeling results were obtained using the Wilson equation with a root mean square deviation between experimental and calculated values for S1 and S2 of 1.15 and 1.99, respectively. The Wilson, NRTL, and UNIQUAC equations have also been used to compute excess thermodynamic functions viz. excess Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy. The obtained results demonstrated a moderate positive deviation to ideality for S1, and a strong positive deviation for S2, unveiling the nature of the interactions between the compounds forming each mixture. In addition, microstructural studies have been carried out by FTIR, XRD and optical microscopy. Weak molecular interactions have been shown for the eutectic compositions. Jackson’s roughness parameter was calculated and found to be greater than 2, suggesting the faceted morphology with irregular structures. The authors are grateful for the financial support of this research from Ecole Militaire Polytechnique (Doctoral Training Program) and from Associate Laboratory LSRE-LCM, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança (projectPOCI-01-0145-FEDER-006984) funded by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through COMPETE2020 –Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI) – and by national funds through FCT - Fundaçãopara a Ciência e a Tecnologia. C.M.S.S. Neves thanks FCT for the postdoctoral grant SFRH/BPD/ 109057/2015. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In this study the solid-liquid equilibria (SLE) of 15 binary mixtures composed of one of three different symmetrical quaternary ammonium chlorides and one of five different fatty acids were measured. The experimental data obtained showed extreme negative deviations to ideality causing large melting-temperature depressions (up to 300 K) that are characteristic for deep eutectic systems. The experimental data revealed that cross-interactions between quaternary ammonium salt and fatty acid increase with increasing alkyl chain length of the quaternary ammonium chloride and with increasing chain length of the carboxylic acid. The pronounced decrease of melting temperatures in these deep eutectic systems is mainly caused by strong hydrogen-bonding interactions, and thermodynamic modeling required an approach that takes hydrogen bonding into account. Thus, the measured phase diagrams were modeled with perturbed-chain statistical associating fluid theory based on the classical molecular homonuclear approach. The model showed very good agreement with the experimental data using a semi-predictive modeling approach, in which binary interaction parameters between quaternary ammonium chloride and carboxylic acid correlated with chain length of the components. This supports the experimental findings on the phase behavior and interactions present in these systems and it allows estimating eutectic points of such highly non-ideal mixtures. This work was developed in the scope of the project CICECO e Aveiro Institute of Materials, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007679 (Ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013) and LSRE-LCM, POCI-01-0145- FEDER-006984jUID/EQU/50020/2013, financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when appropriate co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. M.A.R.M acknowledges FCT for her PhD grant (SFRH/BD/87084/2012). FCT is also acknowledged for funding the project DeepBiorefinery (PTDC/AGRTEC/ 1191/2014). P.V.A.P., G.J.M., M.D.H. and E.A.C.B thank the national funding agencies CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development) (305870/2014-9, 309780/2014, 406856/2013-3), FAPESP (Research Support Foundation of the State of S~ao Paulo) (2014/21252-0, 2016/08566-1), FAEPEX/UNICAMP (Fund for Research, Teaching, and Extension) (0125/16) and CAPES (Coordination of Improvement of Higher Level Personnel) for financial support and scholarships. E.A.C thanks Erasmusþ program of the European Union for co-funding. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

This work reports on the systematic investigation of the influence of the cation alkyl side-chain length of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquids ([C(n)C(1)im]Cl, with n = 1-14), as well as the substitution of the most acidic hydrogen in the imidazolium core by a methyl group, in the formation of aqueous biphasic systems. Ternary phase diagrams, tie-lines, tie-line slopes, tie-line lengths, and critical points for the several systems (ionic liquid + water + K(3)PO(4)) were determined and reported at 298 K and atmospheric pressure. It is shown that the increase of the cation alkyl chain length enhances the formation of aqueous biphasic systems if alkyl chain lengths until the hexyl are considered. The results for longer alkyl side chains show, nevertheless, that the phenomenon is more complex than previously admitted and that the capacity of the ionic liquid to self-aggregate also governs its ability to phase separate. The effect of the alkyl side-chain length on the phase-forming ability of the studied systems was quantitatively evaluated based on their salting-out coefficients derived from a Setschenow-type behavior. The aptitude of each ionic liquid for liquid-liquid demixing as a function of the cation alkyl side-chain length clearly follows three different patterns. The results obtained for the trisubstituted cation indicate that the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the ionic liquid cation and water are not a relevant issue in the formation of aqueous two-phase systems. In general, for the [C(n)C(1)im]Cl series, a multifaceted ratio between entropic contributions and the ability of each ionic liquid to self-aggregate in aqueous media control the phase behavior.

Among the numerous and interesting features of ionic liquids is their ability to form aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) when combined with inorganic or organic salts in aqueous media. In this work, a wide range of salts was studied, aiming at gathering a detailed picture on the molecular mechanisms that govern the ability of the salt ions to induce the formation of ionic-liquid-based ABSs. For that purpose, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate was chosen due to its facility to undergo liquid-liquid demixing in aqueous media containing conventional salts. The corresponding ternary phase diagrams, tie-lines, and tie-line lengths were determined at 298 K and atmospheric pressure. With the large body of data measured in this work, it was possible to establish a scale on the salt cation and anion abilities to induce the formation of ionic-liquid-based ABSs, which follows the Hofmeister series, and to show that the molar entropy of hydration of the salt ions is the driving force for aqueous two-phase system formation.

In this work, the solubility of water in several tetradecyltrihexylphosphonium-based ionic liquids at 298.15 K, and densities and viscosities of both pure and water-saturated ionic liquids in a broad temperature range were measured. The selected ionic liquids comprise the common tetradecyltrihexylphosphonium cation combined with the following anions: bromide, chloride, bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, decanoate, methanesulfonate, dicyanamide and bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)phosphinate. The isobaric thermal expansion coefficients for pure and water-saturated ionic liquids were determined based on the density dependence with temperature. Taking into account that the excess molar volumes of the current hydrophobic water-saturated ionic liquids are negligible, the solubility of water was additionally estimated from the gathered density data and compared with the experimental solubilities obtained. Moreover, the experimental densities were compared with those predicted by the Gardas and Coutinho model while viscosity data were correlated using the Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher method.

Among new potential solvents for lignocellulosic materials, ionic liquids (ILs) are attracting considerable attention. Hence, the knowledge of the thermophysical properties of such fluids is essential for the design of related industrial processes. Therefore, in this work, a set of thermophysical properties, namely, density, viscosity, and refractive index, as a function of temperature, and isobaric thermal expansivity and heat capacities at a constant temperature, were determined for eight ionic liquids with the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation combined with the following anions: acetate, methylphosphonate, methanesulfonate, trifluoromethanesulfonate, dicyanamide, thiocyanate, tosylate, and dimethylphosphate. Imidazolium-based ILs were chosen since these are the most studied ionic fluids in biomass dissolution approaches, while a large array of anions was investigated because it was already demonstrated that it is the IL anion that mainly governs the dissolution.

In this work, mutual solubilities of two [PF6]-based ionic liquids (ILs) with water and their thermophysical properties, namely, melting properties of pure ILs and densities and viscosities of both pure and water-saturated ILs, were determined. The selected Its comprise 1-methyl-3-propylimidazolium and 1-methyl-3-propylpyridinium cations combined with the anion hexafluorophosphate. Mutual solubilities with water were measured in the temperature range from (288.15 to 318.15) K. From the experimental solubility data dependence on temperature, the molar thermodynamic functions of solution, such as Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy of the ILs in water were further derived. In addition, a simulation study based on the COSMO-RS methodology was carried out. For both pure ILs and water-equilibrated samples, densities and viscosities were determined in the temperature interval between (303.15 and 373.15) K. The isobaric thermal expansion coefficients for pure and water-saturated ILs were calculated based on the density dependence on temperature.

Experimental measurements of the surface tension of six imidazolium-, pyridinium-, pyrrolidinium-, and phosphonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) with NTf2 as the common anion and their dependence with the temperatures of (293 to 353) K at atmospheric pressure are presented. The set of selected ILs was chosen to investigate the influence of the length and position of the cation alkyl chain and the cation family on the surface tension of the ILs based on the NTf2 anion. The surface thermodynamic functions such as surface entropy and enthalpy were derived from the temperature dependence of the surface tension, and their values indicate the importance of the surface ordering in ILs. The use of the Guggenheim and Eotvos correlations for the estimation of the critical temperatures of ILs is discussed, and a quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) correlation, previously extended for ILs, is here extended for the studied cations.

International audience; Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) provide an alternative and efficient approach for the extraction, recovery and purification of biomolecules through their partitioning between two liquid aqueous phases. In this work, the ability of hydrophilic phosphonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) to form ABS with aqueous K 3PO 4 solutions was evaluated for the first time. Ternary phase diagrams, and respective tie-lines and tie-lines length, formed by distinct phosphonium-based ILs, water, and K 3PO 4 at 298 K, were measured and are reported. The studied phosphonium-based ILs have shown to be more effective in promoting ABS compared to the imidazolium-based counterparts with similar anions. Moreover, the extractive capability of such systems was assessed for distinct biomolecules (including amino acids, food colourants and alkaloids). Densities and viscosities of both aqueous phases, at the mass fraction compositions used for the biomolecules extraction, were also determined. The evaluated IL-based ABS have been shown to be prospective extraction media, particularly for hydrophobic biomolecules, with several advantages over conventional polymer-inorganic salt ABS. © 2010 by the authors.

By employing (1)H NMR spectroscopy and molecular simulations, we provide an explanation for recent observations that the aqueous solubilities of ionic liquids exhibit salting-out to salting-in regimes upon addition of distinct inorganic salt ions. Using a typical ionic liquid [1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide], we observed the existence of preferential specific interactions between the low electrical charge density ("apolar moiety") parts of the ionic liquid cation and the inorganic salts. These a priori unexpected interactions become increasingly favorable as one moves from salting-out to salting-in effects. More specifically, this interpretation is validated by distinct aqueous solution (1)H NMR data shifts in the ionic liquid cation upon inorganic salt addition. These shifts, which are well noted in the terminal and preterminal hydrogens of the alkyl chain appended to the imidazolium ring, correlate quantitatively with solubility data, both for cases where the nature of inorganic salt is changed, at constant concentration, and for those where the concentration of a given inorganic salt is varied. Molecular simulations have also been performed permitting us to garner a broader picture of the underlying mechanism and structure of this complex solvation phenomenon. These findings can now be profitably used to anticipate solution behavior upon inorganic salt addition well beyond the specificity of the ionic liquid solutions, i.e., for a diversity of distinct solutes differing in chemical nature.

Controversy behind the postulation that ionic liquids (ILs) are entirely green materials emerged a few years ago. This statement is not always valid, and properties such as toxicity and chemical/thermal stability of ILs should be fully characterized to evaluate their potential use as green solvents. Therefore, in this work, the thermal and chemical decompositions of hexafluorophosphate- and tetrafluoroborate-based ILs in aqueous solutions were evaluated. The experimental conditions employed allowed the study of the possible decomposition of both anions, the effect of the cation side alkyl chain length, the influence of the pH of the aqueous solutions, as well as the temperature influence. Three experimental techniques were employed to fully characterize those anions' stability, electrospray mass spectrometry, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and pH measurements of the equilibrium aqueous solutions. The results noticeably indicate that it is suitable to use aqueous solutions of hexafluorophosphate-based ILs at moderate temperatures while acidic conditions promote the anion hydrolysis, even at low temperatures. On the other hand, the tetrafluoroborate-based ILs are not water-stable compounds since they hydrolyze under all of the conditions tested and the hydrolysis extent is markedly dependent on the temperature.

In order to evaluate the impact of the alkyl side chain length and symmetry of the cation on the thermophysical properties of water-saturated ionic liquids (ILs), densities and viscosities as a function of temperature were measured at atmospheric pressure and in the (298.15 to 363.15) K temperature range, for systems containing two series of bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide-based compounds: the symmetric [C n C n im][NTf2] (with n = 1-8 and 10) and asymmetric [C n C1im][NTf2] (with n = 2-5, 7, 9 and 11) ILs. For water-saturated ILs, the density decreases with the increase of the alkyl side chain length while the viscosity increases with the size of the aliphatic tails. The saturation water solubility in each IL was further estimated with a reasonable agreement based on the densities of water-saturated ILs, further confirming that for the ILs investigated the volumetric mixing properties of ILs and water follow a near ideal behaviour. The water-saturated symmetric ILs generally present lower densities and viscosities than their asymmetric counterparts. From the experimental data, the isobaric thermal expansion coefficient and energy barrier were also estimated. A close correlation between the difference in the energy barrier values between the water-saturated and pure ILs and the water content in each IL was found, supporting that the decrease in the viscosity of ILs in presence of water is directly related with the decrease of the energy barrier. This work was developed in the scope of the projects CICECOAveiro Institute of Materials (Ref. FCT UID/CTM/50011/2013) and LSRE/LCM-Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering (Ref. FCT UID/EQU/50020/2013), financed by national funds through the FCT/MEC and when applicable co-financed by FEDER under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement. The authors also thank FCT for the

The ionic nature of ionic liquids (ILs) results in a unique combination of intrinsic properties that produces increasing interest in the research of these fluids as environmentally friendly "neoteric" solvents. One of the main research fields is their exploitation as solvents for liquid-liquid extractions, but although ILs cannot vaporize leading to air pollution, they present non-negligible miscibility with water that may be the cause of some environmental aquatic risks. It is thus important to know the mutual solubilities between ILs and water before their industrial applications. In this work, the mutual solubilities of hydrophobic yet hygroscopic imidazolium-, pyridinium-, pyrrolidinium-, and piperidinium-based ILs in combination with the anions bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, hexafluorophosphate, and tricyanomethane with water were measured between 288.15 and 318.15 K. The effect of the ILs structural combinations, as well as the influence of several factors, namely cation side alkyl chain length, the number of cation substitutions, the cation family, and the anion identity in these mutual solubilities are analyzed and discussed. The hydrophobicity of the anions increases in the order [C(CN)(3)][PF(6)][Tf(2)N] while the hydrophobicity of the cations increases from [C(n)mim][C(n)mpy]or = [C(n)mpyr][C(n)mpip] and with the alkyl chain length increase. From experimental measurements of the temperature dependence of ionic liquid solubilities in water, the thermodynamic molar functions of solution, such as Gibbs energy, enthalpy, and entropy at infinite dilution were determined, showing that the solubility of these ILs in water is entropically driven and that the anion solvation at the IL-rich phase controls their solubilities in water. The COSMO-RS, a predictive method based on unimolecular quantum chemistry calculations, was also evaluated for the description of the water-IL binary systems studied, where it showed to be capable of providing an acceptable qualitative agreement with the experimental data.

A comprehensive study on the phase behaviour of two sets of ionic liquids (ILs) and their interactions with water is here presented through combining experimental and theoretical approaches. The impact of the alkyl side chain length and the cation symmetry on the water solubility in the asymmetric [C-N (-) (1)C(1)im][NTf2] and symmetric [C-N (-) (1)C(1)im][NTf2] series of Rs (N up to 22), from 288.15 K to 318.15 K and at atmospheric pressure, was studied. The experimental data reveal that the solubility of water in ILs with an asymmetric cation is higher than in those with the symmetric isomer. Several trend shifts on the water solubility as a function of the alkyl side chain length were identified, namely at [C(6)C(1)im][NTf2] for asymmetric ILs and at [C(4)C(4)im][NTf2] and [C(7)C(7)im]INTf2] for the symmetric ILs. To complement the experimental data and to further investigate the molecular-level mechanisms behind the dissolution process, density functional theory calculations, using the Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) and the electrostatic potential-derived CHelpG, were performed. The COSMO-RS model is able to qualitatively predict water solubility as a function of temperature and alkyl chain lengths of both symmetric and asymmetric cations. Furthermore, the model is also capable to predict the somewhat higher water solubility in the asymmetric cation, as well as the trend shift as a function of alkyl chain lengths experimentally observed. Both COSMO-RS and the electrostatic potential-derived CHelpG show that the interactions of water and the IL cation take place on the IL polar region, namely on the aromatic head and adjacent methylene groups that explains the differences in water solubility observed for cations with different chain lengths. Furthermore, the CHelpG calculations for the isolated cations in the gas phase indicates that the trend shift of water solubility as a function of alkyl chain lengths and the difference of water solubility in symmetric may also result from the partial positive charge distribution/contribution of the cation. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

This work presents and highlights the differentiation of the physicochemical properties of the [C(1)Him][NTf2], [C(2)Him][NTf2], [(1)C(1)(2)C(1)Him][NTf2], and [(1)C(4)(2)C(1)(3)C(1)im][NTf2] that is related with the strong bulk interaction potential, which highlights the differentiation on the physicochemical arising from the presence of the acidic group (NH) as well as the methylation in position 2, C(2), of the imidazolium ring. Densities, viscosities, refractive indices, and surface tensions in a wide range of temperatures, as well as isobaric heat capacities at 298.15 K, for this IL series are presented and discussed. It was found that the volumetric properties are barely affected by the geometric and structural isomerization, following a quite regular trend. A linear correlation between the glass transition temperature, T-g, and the alkyl chain size was found; however, ILs with the acidic NH group present a significant higher Tg than the [(1)C(N-1)(3)C(1)im][NTf2] and [(1)C(N)(3)C(N)im][NTf2] series. It was found that the most viscous ILs, ([(1)C(1)Him][NTf2], [(1)C(2)Him][NTf2], and [(1)C(1)(2)C(1)Him][NTf2]) have an acidic NH group in the imidazolium ring in agreement with the observed increase of energy barrier of flow. The methylation in position 2, C(2), as well as the NH acidic group in the imidazolium ring contribute to a significant variation in the cationanion interactions and their dynamics, which is reflected in their charge distribution and polarizability leading to a significant differentiation of the refractive indices, surface tension, and heat capacities. The observed differentiation of the physicochemical properties of the [(1)C(1)Him][NTf2], [(1)C(2)Him][NTf2], [(1)C(1)(2)C(1)Him][NTf2], and [(1)C(4)(2)C(1)(3)C(1)im][NTf2] are an indication of the stronger bulk interaction potential, which highlights the effect that arises from the presence of the acidic group (NH) as well as the methylation in position 2 of the imidazolium ring.

Due to scarce available experimental data, as well as due to the absence of predictive models, the influence of salts on the solubility of ionic liquids (ILs) in water is still poorly understood. To this end, this work addresses the solubility of the IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide ([C(4)C(1)im][NTf2]), at 298.15 K and 0.1 MPa, in aqueous salt solutions (from 0.1 to 1.5 mol kg(-1)). At salt molalities higher than 0.2 mol kg(-1), all salts caused salting-out of [C(4)C(1)im][NTf2] from aqueous solution with their strength decreasing in the following order: Al-2(SO4)(3) > ZnSO4 > K3C6H5O7 > KNaC4H4O6 > K3PO4 > Mg(CH3CO2)(2) > K2HPO4 > MgSO4 > KH2PO4 > KCH3CO2. Some of these salts lead however to the salting-in of [C(4)C(1)im][NTf2] in aqueous medium at salt molalities lower than 0.2 mol kg(-1). To attempt the development of a model able to describe the salt effects, comprising both the salting-in and salting-out phenomena observed, the electrolyte Perturbed-Chain Statistical Associating Fluid Theory (ePC-SAFT) was applied using ion-specific parameters. The gathered experimental data was modelled using ePC-SAFT parameters complemented by fitting a single binary parameter between K+ and the IL-ions to the IL solubility in K3PO4 aqueous solutions. Based on this approach, the description of anion-specific salting-out effects of the remaining potassium salts was found to be in good agreement with experimental data. Remarkably, ePC-SAFT is even able to predict the salting-in effect induced by K2HPO4, based on the single K+/IL-ions binary parameter which was fitted to an exclusively salting-out effect promoted by K3PO4. Finally, ePC-SAFT was applied to predict the influence of other sodium salts on the [C(4)C(1)im][NTf2] solubility in water, with experimental data taken from literature, leading to an excellent description of the liquid-liquid phase behaviour.

Most ionic liquids (ILs) are either water soluble or present a non-negligible miscibility with water that may cause some harmful effects upon their release into the environment. Among other methods, adsorption of ILs onto activated carbon (AC) has shown to be an effective technique to remove these compounds from aqueous solutions. However, this method has proved to be viable only for hydrophobic ILs rather than for the hydrophilic that, being water soluble, have a larger tendency for contamination. In this context, an alternative approach using the salting-out ability of inorganic salts is here proposed to enhance the adsorption of hydrophilic ILs onto activated carbon. The effect of the concentrations of Na2SO4 on the adsorption of five ILs onto AC was investigated. A wide range of ILs that allow the inspection of the IL cation family (imidazolium- and pyridinium-based) and the anion nature (accounting for its hydrophilicity and fluorination) through the adsorption onto AC was studied. In general, it is shown that the use of Na2SO4 enhances the adsorption of ILs onto AC. In particular, this effect is highly relevant when dealing with hydrophilic ILs that are those that are actually poorly removed by AC. Furthermore, the COnductor like Screening MOdel for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) was used aiming at complementing the experimental data obtained. This work contributes with the development of novel methods to remove ILs from water streams aiming at creating "greener" processes, The authors acknowledge FCT- Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, through the projects Pest-C/CTM/LA0011/2013 and PTDC/AAC-AMB/119172/2010. Catarina M.S.S. Neves also acknowledges FCT for the doctoral Grant SFRH/BD/70641/2010.The authors are also grateful to the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)” and “Comunidad de Madrid” for financial support (projects CTQ2011-26758 and S2009/PPQ-1545). M.G. Freire acknowledges the European Research Council (ERC) for the Starting Grant ERC-2013-StG-337753

In this work, we demonstrate that the presence of fluorinated alkyl chains in Ionic Liquids (ILs) is highly relevant in terms of their thermophysical properties and aqueous phase behaviour. We have measured and compared the density and viscosity of pure 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate, [C(2)C(1)im][FAP], with that of pure 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, [C(2)C(1)im][PF6], at atmospheric pressure and in the (288.15 to 363.15) K temperature range. The results show that the density of [C(2)C(1)im][PF6] is lower than that of [C(2)C(1)im][PF6], while the viscosity data reveal the opposite trend. The fluid phase behaviour of aqueous solutions of the two ILs was also evaluated under the same conditions and it was found that the mutual solubilities of [C(2)C(1)im][FAP] and water are substantially tower than those verified with [C(2)C(1)im][PF6]. The experimental data were lastly interpreted at a molecular level using Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation results revealing that the interactions between the IL ions and the water molecules are mainly achieved via the six fluorine atoms of [PF6] and the three analogues in [FAP]. The loss of three interaction centres when replacing [PF6] by [FAN, coupled with the bulkiness and relative inertness of the three perfluoroethyl groups, reduces its mutual solubility with water and also contributes to a lower viscosity displayed by the pure [FAP]-based IL as compared to that of the [PF6]-based compound.

The knowledge of the liquid-liquid equilibria (LLE) between ionic liquids (ILs) and water is of utmost importance for environmental monitoring, process design and optimization. Therefore, in this work, the mutual solubilities with water, for the ILs combining the 1-methylimidazolium, [C(1)im](+); 1-ethylimidazolium, [C(2)im](+); 1-ethyl-3-propylimidazolium, [C(2)C(3)im](+); and 1-butyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium, [C(4)C(1)C(1)im](+) cations with the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion, were determined and compared with the isomers of the symmetric 1,3-dialkylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(n)C(n)im][NTf2], with n=1-3) and of the asymmetric 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C(n)C(1)im][NTf2], with n = 2-5) series of ILs. The results obtained provide a broad picture of the impact of the IL cation structural isomerism, including the number of alkyl side chains at the cation, on the water-IL mutual solubilities. Despite the hydrophobic behaviour associated to the [NTf2](-) anion, the results show a significant solubility of water in the IL-rich phase, while the solubility of ILs in the water-rich phase is much lower. The thermodynamic properties of solution indicate that the solubility of ILs in water is entropically driven and highly influenced by the cation size. Using the results obtained here in addition to literature data, a correlation between the solubility of [NTf2]-based ILs in water and their molar volume, for a large range of cations, is proposed. The COnductor like Screening MOdel for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) was also used to estimate the LLE of the investigated systems and proved to be a useful predictive tool for the a priori screening of ILs aiming at finding suitable candidates before extensive experimental measurements. AcknowledgementsThe authors thank financial support from Fundacão para aCiência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), European Union, QREN,FEDER and COMPETE for funding the CICECO (project PEST-C/CTM/LA0011/2013), and LSRE/LCM (project PEST-C/EQB/LA0020/2013).Thanks are also due to FCT for financial support for the Ph.D. andpostdoctoral grants SFRH/BD/87084/2012, SFRH/BD/70641/2010,SFRH/BPD/88101/2012 for M.A.R.M., C.M.S.S.N., and K.A.K., respec-tively. S.P.P. also thanks FAPESB (APR0035/2014) for funding.

Aiming at the evaluation of the impact of the ionic liquids (ILs) cation symmetry on their phase behaviour, in this work, novel mutual solubilities with water of the symmetric series of [C(n)C(n)im][NTf2] (with n=1-5) were determined and compared with their isomeric forms of the asymmetric [C(n)C(1)im][NTf2] group. While the solubility of isomeric ILs in water was found to be similar, the solubility of water in ILs follows the same trend up to a maximum cation alkyl side chain length. For n >= 4 in [C(n)C(n)im][NTf2] the solubility of water in the asymmetric ILs is slightly higher than that observed in the symmetric counterparts. The thermodynamic properties of solution and solvation derived from the experimental solubility data of ILs in water at infinite dilution, namely the Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy were used to evaluate the cation symmetry effect on the ILs solvation. It is shown that the solubility of ILs in water is entropically driven and highly influenced by the cation size. Accordingly, it was found that the ILs solubility in water of both symmetric and asymmetric series depends on their molecular volume. Based on these findings, a linear correlation between the logarithm of the solubility of ILs in water and their molar volume is here proposed for the [NTf2]-based ILs at a fixed temperature. This work was financed by national funding from Fundac¸ ão paraa Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT, Portugal), European Union, QREN,FEDER and COMPETE by the projects PEST-C/CTM/LA0011/2013and PEST-C/EQB/LA0020/2013. The authors also thank FCT forthe PhD and postdoctoral grants SFRH/BD/87084/2012, SFRH/BD/70641/2010, SFRH/BPD/88101/2012 of M.A.R.M., C.M.S.S.N., andK.A.K., respectively.

The potential of ionic liquids for aromatic-aliphatic separation or removal of sulfur-containing compounds such as thiophene is well established but, in spite of a number of phase diagrams reported in the literature, the values of other properties required for process design, such as viscosities and densities, are poorly characterized for these mixtures. In this work, systems presenting a LLE with a LCST are studied. Experimental density and viscosity data for binary systems of benzene with [C(4)C(1)im][SCN], [C(4)D(1)im][CF3SO3] and [C(2)C(1)im][NTf2], and thiophene with [C(4)C(1)im][SCN] and [C(4)C(1)im][NTf2] are presented. Additionally, the liquid-liquid phase diagram for the binary system of thiophene with [C(4)C(1)im][NTf2] is also reported. The excess molar volumes and viscosity deviations were further estimated and correlated and their values discussed. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The applications and variety of ionic liquids (ILs) have increased during the last few years, and their use at a large scale will require their removal/recovery from wastewater streams. Adsorption on activated carbons (ACs) has been recently proposed for this aim and this work presents a systematic analysis of the influence of the IL chemical structures (cation side chain, head group, anion type and the presence of functional groups) on their adsorption onto commercial AC from water solution. Here, the adsorption of 21 new ILs, which include imidazolium-, pyridinium-, pyrrolidinium-, piperidinium-, phosphonium- and ammonium-based cations and different hydrophobic and hydrophilic anions, has been experimentally measured. This contribution allows an expansion of the range of IL compounds studied in previous works, and permits a better understanding of the influence of the IL structures through the adsorption on AC. In addition, the COSMO-RS method was used to analyze the measured adsorption isotherms, allowing the understanding of the role of the cationic and anionic structures in the adsorption process, in terms of the different interactions between the IL compound and AC surface/water solvent. The results of this work provide new insights for the development of adsorption as an effective operation to remove/recover ILs with very different chemical nature from water solution, The authors are grateful to the Spanish “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN)” and “Comunidad de Madrid” for financial support (projects CTQ2011-26758 and S2009/PPQ-1545). We are very grateful to “Centro de Computación Científica de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid” for computational facilities. The authors also acknowledge FCT – Fundaçao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia, through the projects Pest-C/CTM/LA0011/2011 and PTDC/AAC-AMB/119172/2010. Catarina M. S. S. Neves also acknowledges FCT for the doctoral grant SFRH/BD/70641/2010

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) using ionic liquids (ILs) offer an alternative approach for the extraction, recovery, and purification of biomolecules through their partitioning between two aqueous liquid phases. In this work, the ability of a wide range of ILs to form ABS with aqueous solutions of Na2CO3 was evaluated. The ABS formed by IL+water+Na2CO3 were determined at 25 degrees C, and the respective solubility curves, tie-lines, and tie-line lengths are reported. The studied ILs share the common chloride anion, allowing the IL cation core, the cation isomerism, the presence of functionalized groups, and alkyl side chain length effects to be evaluated. An increase in the cation side alkyl chain length leads to a higher ability for liquid-liquid demixing whereas different positional isomers and the presence of an allyl group have no major influence in the phase diagrams behavior. Quaternary phosphonium- and ammonium-based fluids are more able to form an ABS when compared with imidazolium-, pyridinium-, pyrrolidinium-, and piperidium-based ILs. Moreover, the presence of an aromatic cation core has no major contribution to the formation of ABS when compared to the respective nonaromatic counterparts. Finally, to appraise on the systems applicability in downstream processing, selected systems were used for the partitioning of tetracyclines (neutral and salt forms) a class of antibiotics produced by bacteria fermentation. Single-step extraction efficiencies for the IL-rich phase were always higher than 99% and confirm the great potential of ILs to be applied in the biotechnological field. (c) 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 29:645-654, 2013

Aiming at evaluating the impact of the cation symmetry on the nanostructuration of ionic liquids (ILs), in this work, densities and viscosities as a function of temperature and small wide angle X-ray scattering (SWAXS) patterns at ambient conditions were determined and analyzed for 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (asymmetric) and 1,3-dialkylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (symmetric) series of ionic liquids. The symmetric IL series, [ChinCNnim][NTf2], presents lower viscosities than the asymmetric [C-N/2 C-N/2 im][NTf2] counterparts. For ionic liquids from [C(1)C(1)im][NTf2] to [C(6)C(6)im][NTf2], an odd even effect in the viscosity along the cation alkyl side chain length was observed, in contrast with a linear increase found for the ones ranging between [C(6)C(6)im][NTf2] and [Ci(10)C(10)im][NTf2]. The analysis of the viscosity data along the alkyl side chain length reveals a trend shift that occurs at [C(6)Cim][NTf2] for the asymmetric series and at [C6C6im][NTf2] for the symmetric series. These results are further supported by SWAXS measurements at ambient conditions. The gathered data indicate that both asymmetric and symmetric members are characterized by the occurrence of a distinct degree of mesoscopic structural organization above a given threshold in the side alkyl chain length, regardless the cation symmetry. The data also highlight a difference in the alkyl chain dependence of the mesoscopic cluster sizes for symmetric and asymmetric cations, reflecting a different degree of interdigitation of the aliphatic tails in the two families. The trend shift found in this work is related to the structural segregation in the liquid after a critical alkyl length size (CALS) is attained and has particular relevance in the cation structural isomerism with higher symmetry.

The knowledge of the salts solubility in water is of major interest for process design and optimization and for environmental monitoring. The determination of the water solubility of non-aromatic salts or ionic liquids requires the use of specific and expensive analytical equipment. In this work the use of electrical conductivity for the quantification of the solubility of sparingly soluble salts in water is proposed. Novel data for the water solubility of 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium hexafluorophosphate, 1-methyl-1-propylpiperidinium hexafluorophosphate, tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate, and tetrabutylphosphonium hexafluorophosphate, in the temperature range from 288.15 to 318.15 K, are reported. Using the gathered results, along with literature data, a correlation between the aqueous solubility of [PF6]-based salts with their molar volume is proposed. The COSMO-RS predictive model was also used to estimate the solid-liquid equilibrium of the investigated systems. Since all the compounds are solid at room temperature, they were further characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, and the temperatures of solid-solid and solid-liquid phase transitions, as well as the respective enthalpies of phase transition, are presented. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Mixtures of thiophene with two ionic liquids, namely, [C(4)C(1)im][SCN] and [C(4)C(1)im][NTf(2)], were chosen as prototypes of systems presenting lower critical solution temperature (LCST) and upper critical solution temperature (UCST) behavior, respectively. This distinct behavior is due to different interactions between the constituting species which are investigated here by means of experimental and computational studies. Experimentally, density measurements were conducted to assess the excess molar volumes and (1)H and (13)C NMR spectroscopies were used to obtain the corresponding nuclear chemical shifts with respect to those measured for the pure ionic liquids. Computationally, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to analyze the radial distribution neighborhoods of each species. Negative values of excess molar volumes and strong positive chemical shift deviations for [C(4)C(1)im][SCN] systems, along with results obtained from MD simulations, allowed the identification of specific interactions between [SCN](-) anion and the molecular solvent (thiophene), which are not observed for [NTf(2)](-). It is suggested that these specific [SCN](-)-thiophene interactions are responsible for the LCST behavior observed for mixtures of thiophene with ionic liquids.

The possibility of developing a scale for solubility parameters, with the purpose of predicting the performance and aiding the selection of ILs, was evaluated. For the estimation of solubility parameters, infinite-dilution activity coefficient data were used. The results allowed the identification of a curious behavior for ILs that seem to present more than one solubility parameter, acting as polar molecules in some situations and as nonpolar molecules in others, depending on the medium. This behavior was confirmed by solubility measurements of [C(4)MIM][PF(6)] in solvent mixtures. In this work, the solubility parameters were also estimated from other properties, namely, viscosities and enthalpies of vaporization, and the relation between the various sets of solubility parameters is discussed. The results obtained suggest that, given the complexity of IL molecules and their liquid phases, a one-dimensional scale for solubility parameters that is able to characterize these fluids is not feasible.

By employing 1H NMR spectroscopy and molecular simulations, we provide an explanation for recent observations that the aqueous solubilities of ionic liquids exhibit salting-out to salting-in regimes upon addition of distinct inorganic salt ions. Using a typical ionic liquid [1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide], we observed the existence of preferential specific interactions between the low electrical charge density ("apolar moiety") parts of the ionic liquid cation and the inorganic salts. These a priori unexpected interactions become increasingly favorable as one moves from salting-out to salting-in effects. More specifically, this interpretation is validated by distinct aqueous solution 1H NMR data shifts in the ionic liquid cation upon inorganic salt addition. These shifts, which are well noted in the terminal and preterminal hydrogens of the alkyl chain appended to the imidazolium ring, correlate quantitatively with solubility data, both for cases where the nature of inorganic salt is changed, at constant concentration, and for those where the concentration of a given inorganic salt is varied. Molecular simulations have also been performed permitting us to garner a broader picture of the underlying mechanism and structure of this complex solvation phenomenon. These findings can now be profitably used to anticipate solution behavior upon inorganic salt addition well beyond the specificity of the ionic liquid solutions, i.e., for a diversity of distinct solutes differing in chemical nature.

The solubility of ionic liquids (ILs) in water is of significant relevance for both process design and evaluation of their environmental impact. In this work, the solubilities of the non-aromatic piperidinium- and pyrrolidinium-based ILs in water, combined with the anion bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, were determined in the temperature range from (288.15 to 318.15) K. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) was used as the analytical method after a proper validation of the experimental results obtained. The effect of the ILs structural combinations, such as cation family and alkyl side chain length, in their solubility in water, is analyzed and discussed. From the ILs solubility dependence on temperature, the standard molar thermodynamic functions of solution, namely Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy at infinite dilution, were determined. The results indicate that the ILs dissolution in water is an endothermic process and entropically driven. To predict the mutual solubilities between ILs and water, a quantitative structure–property relationship (QSPR) model is also proposed. It is shown that it can provide a good description of the mutual solubilities at 303.15 K with deviations smaller than 10%.

Extractive fermentation using aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) is a promising separation process since it provides a nondenaturing environment for biomolecules and improves the stability of cells. Due to environmental concerns and toxicity issues related with common volatile organic solvents, ionic liquids (ILs), a new class of nonvolatile alternative solvents, are being currently investigated for extraction purposes. In this work, a wide range of imidazolium-based ILs was studied aiming at obtaining new insights regarding their ability toward the formation of ABS and their capacity to the extraction of biomolecules. On the basis of the IL cations 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, the IL anion influence on ABS formation was assessed through their combination with chloride, bromide, acetate, hydrogensulfate, methanesulfonate, methylsulfate, ethylsulfate, trifluomethanesulfonate, trifluoroacetate, and dicyanamide. Ternary phase diagrams (and respective tie-lines) formed by these hydrophilic ILs, water, and the inorganic salt K(3)PO(4), were measured and are reported. The results indicate that the ability of an IL to induce ABS closely follows the decrease in the hydrogen bond accepting strength or the increase in the hydrogen bond acidity of the IL anion. In addition, the extraction capacity of the studied ABS was evaluated through their application to the extraction of an essential amino acid, L-tryptophan. It is shown that the partition coefficients obtained between the IL and the K(3)PO(4)-aqueous rich phases were substantially larger than those typically obtained with polymers-inorganic salts or polymers-polysaccharides aqueous systems. published

The design of ionic liquids has been focused on the cation-anion combinations but other more subtle approaches can be used. In this work the effect of the branching of the cation alkyl chain on the design of ionic liquids (ILs) is evaluated. The mutual solubilities with water and toxicities of a series of bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)-based ILs, combined with imidazolium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium, and piperidinium cations with linear or branched alkyl chains, are reported. The mutual solubility measurements were carried out in the temperature range from (288.15 to 323.15) K. From the obtained experimental data, the thermodynamic properties of the solution (in the water-rich phase) were determined and discussed. The COnductor like Screening MOdel for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) was used to predict the liquid-liquid equilibrium. Furthermore, molecular dynamic simulations were also carried out aiming to get a deeper understanding of these fluids at the molecular level. The results show that the increase in the number of atoms at the cation ring (from five to six) leads to a decrease in the mutual solubilities with water while increasing their toxicity, and as expected from the well-established relationship between toxicities and hydrophobicities of ILs. The branching of the alkyl chain was observed to decrease the water solubility in ILs, while increasing the ILs solubility in water. The inability of COSMO-RS to correctly predict the effect of branching alkyl chains toward water solubility on them was confirmed using molecular dynamic simulations to be due to the formation of nano-segregated structures of the ILs that are not taken into account by the COSMO-RS model. In addition, the impact of branched alkyl chains on the toxicity is shown to be not trivial and to depend on the aromatic nature of the ILs.

The number of applications involving ionic liquids has dramatically increased in the past few years, and their production and use in a large scale will inevitably lead to their dispersion into water streams (either by wastewater disposal or accidental leakage). Studies on the removal and recovery of ionic liquids from wastewater streams are therefore of crucial importance, yet particularly scarce. In this work, the use of aluminium salts is proposed to concentrate and remove ionic liquids from aqueous solutions. Two aluminium-based salts (Al2(SO4)3 and AlK(SO4)2·12H2O) were used to treat various aqueous solutions of ionic liquids containing imidazolium-, pyridinium- and phosphonium-based fluids. The gathered results show the enhanced ability of these salts to remove and recover ionic liquids from aqueous media. The minimum recovery efficiency achieved was 96%, whereas for a large array of systems recoveries of circa 100% of ionic liquid were attained. The residual concentrations of ionic liquids in water range from 0.01 to 6 wt%. The results reported disclose a novel promising technique for the recovery and treatment of aqueous effluents contaminated with ionic liquids by using salts commonly employed in water treatment processes, allowing thus its easy scale-up and adaptation to new processes involving ionic liquids.

Bio-alcohols are produced from biomass by fermentation, and distillation is commonly used to separate the alcohol from the aqueous phase. This is, however, a high energy consumption process, and alternative approaches to this separation are being pursued. In this work, the use of phosphonium-based ionic liquids (ILs) for the extraction of ethanol from fermentation broths is investigated. Ternary phase diagrams, necessary for the design and to implement an alternative liquid–liquid extraction process for the alcohol recovery, were determined for seven ionic liquids. The modelling of the equilibrium data was performed using the COSMO-RS and NRTL models; the first aiming at screening other ionic liquids not experimentally studied, and the latter aiming at designing a separation process. The gathered data indicate that phosphonium-based ionic liquids are the best yet reported to perform water–ethanol separations. Based on the most promising phase diagrams, an analysis of the alcohol and ionic liquid recovery steps was carried out and a liquid–liquid extraction stage coupled to an extractive fermentation, where the ionic liquid is continuously recycled to the fermentator and the ethanol concentration is carried out by pervaporation, is here proposed as an alternative to distillation.