molecules-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Ionic Liquids in Chemical Separations

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Liquids".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 September 2021) | Viewed by 4711

Special Issue Editor


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry and ICCRAM, University of Burgos, 09001 Burgos, Spain
Interests: multiscale materials modeling; thermodynamics; in silico toxicology; safe and sustainable by design; deep eutectic solvents; CO2 capture; nanomaterials; phase equilibrium; physical chemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ionic liquids (ILs) have become mainstream materials for a wide range of applications including chemical and gas separation processes. The null volatility of ILs, their wide liquid range, the advantageous environmental properties in terms of toxicity and biodegradability, as well as the possibility of adapting their structures to the specific tasks justify the industry and academia interest in developing ionic liquid-based separation processes.

The many possible ILs require a systematic analysis of the microscopic and macroscopic features of these fluids as well as their relationships with chemical separation for systems of industrial interest. Likewise, fundamental physicochemical properties and phase equilibria, which are required for process design purposes, need to be accurately measured in wide pressure and temperature ranges. Green aspects, such as environmental fate, water pollution, and biodegradability, need to be considered with caution as they are largely dependent on the type of ions considered.

This Special Issue is intended to provide a forum for reporting state-of-the-art developments of ILs in chemical and gas separation processes considering a broad perspective from experts in the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, and materials science. Experimental studies on separation of metal or organic compounds, reduction of environmental pollutants, separation of biomolecules, two-phase aqueous processes, analytical chemistry applications, gas separation, and CO2 capture are welcome. Systematic studies on thermophysical and physicochemical properties as well as thermodynamics analysis of ILs- based separation processes will also be considered. Multiscale molecular simulation studies, including quantum chemistry, molecular dynamics, and Monte Carlo methods, to infer microscopic features of relevant separation processes, will also be considered. Process design and analysis of operations involving ILs are of interest to show the scalability of ILs for industrial applications. Life cycle analysis and process economy are also suitable for considering the large-scale application of ionic liquids. Studies reporting novel applications and review articles are especially welcome.

We hope that this Special Issue will demonstrate the possibilities and drawbacks of ionic liquids and will provide a guide for new directions in sustainable separation processes.

Prof. Santiago Aparicio
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Ionic liquids
  • Separation
  • Gas separation
  • CO2 capture
  • Physicochemical properties
  • Solubility
  • Phase equilibria
  • Thermodynamics
  • Process design
  • Molecular simulation
  • Life cycle analysis
  • Economics
  • Scalability

Published Papers (2 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 28234 KiB  
Article
Synthesis of Ammonium-Based Ionic Liquids for the Extraction Process of a Natural Pigment (Betanin)
by Pedro Morales-García, Evelyn Y. Calvillo-Muñoz, Irina V. Lijanova, Natalya V. Likhanova, Octavio Olivares-Xometl and Paulina Arellanes-Lozada
Molecules 2021, 26(18), 5458; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26185458 - 08 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2071
Abstract
The use of new synthesized ammonium-based ionic liquids was explored as an alternative to the current process implemented in the betanin extraction from red beet juice, resulting in high yields: 70% and 82%. Betanin is a vegetal pigment that has been applied to [...] Read more.
The use of new synthesized ammonium-based ionic liquids was explored as an alternative to the current process implemented in the betanin extraction from red beet juice, resulting in high yields: 70% and 82%. Betanin is a vegetal pigment that has been applied to a large variety of products in the food industry, which is important, for it can work as a substitute for the red synthetic dyes used nowadays. Additionally, the use of the kosmotropic salt sodium acetate was explored in order to separate the complex formed by the ionic liquid and pigment of interest in a process that combined two techniques: ATPS (aqueous two-phase system) and SOES (salting-out extraction system). The results reveal that the studied techniques could work as a novel process for the extraction of betanin from red beet juice employing ionic liquids, which have not been tested for this purpose in other research. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids in Chemical Separations)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 5065 KiB  
Article
Adsorption and Purification of Baicalin from Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi Extract by Ionic Liquids (ILs) Grafted Silica
by Yunchang Fan, Di Wu and Sheli Zhang
Molecules 2021, 26(8), 2322; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26082322 - 16 Apr 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1999
Abstract
Baicalin which has multiple biological activities is the main active component of the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG). Although its isolation and purification by adsorption methods have aroused much interest of the scientific community, it suffered from the poor selectivity of the [...] Read more.
Baicalin which has multiple biological activities is the main active component of the root of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG). Although its isolation and purification by adsorption methods have aroused much interest of the scientific community, it suffered from the poor selectivity of the adsorbents. In this work, an environmentally benign method was developed to prepare ionic liquids (ILs) grafted silica by using IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([C4mim]NTf2) and ethanol as reaction media. The IL 1-propyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C3mim]Cl) grafted silica ([C3mim]+Cl@SiO2) was used to adsorb and purify baicalin from the root extract of Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (SBG). Experimental results indicated that the adsorption equilibrium can be quickly achieved (within 10 min). The adsorption behavior of [C3mim]+Cl@SiO2 for baicalin was in good agreement with Langmuir and Freundlich models and the adsorption was a physisorption process as suggested by Dubinin–Radushkevich model. Compared with commercial resins, [C3mim]+Cl@SiO2 showed the strongest adsorption ability and highest selectivity. After desorption and crystallization, a purity of baicalin as high as 96.5% could be obtained. These results indicated that the ILs grafted silica materials were promising adsorbents for the adsorption and purification of baicalin and showed huge potential in the purification of other bioactive compounds from natural sources. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids in Chemical Separations)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop