Marta Laskowska

Phase Equilibria Study of the Binary Systems (1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Thiocyanate Ionic Liquid + Organic Solvent or Water)‡

(Solid + liquid) phase equilibria (SLE) for the binary systems, ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate [BMIM][SCN] with an alcohol (1-octanol, 1-nonanol, 1-decanol, 1-undecanol, or 1-dodecanol) or water, and (liquid + liquid) phase equilibria (LLE) for the binary systems of [BMIM][SCN] with an alkane (n-hexane, n-heptane, n-octane, n-nonane, or n-decane), benzene, an alkylbenzenes (toluene or ethylbenzene), tetrahydrofuran (THF), cycloalkanes (cyclohexane or cycloheptane), or ethers (di-n-propyl ether, di-n-butyl ether, di-n-pentyl ether, n-butylmethyl ether, tert-butylmethyl ether (MTBE), or tert-butylethyl ether (ETBE)) have been determined at ambient pressure. A dynamic method was used over a broad range of mole fractions and temperatures from 250 to 430 K. In the case of systems IL + alkane, cycloalkane, or ether, the mutual immiscibility with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) was detected, and in the systems of IL + benzene, alkylbenzene, or THF, the mutual immiscibility with a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) was observed. UV-vis spectroscopy was used to determine the very small compositions of the IL in the n-hexane (about 2 x 10(-5) IL mole fraction), benzene (about 2 x 10(-3) IL mole fraction), cyclohexane (about 2 x 10(-5) IL mole fraction), and THF (about 1.2 x 10(-2) IL mole fraction). For the binary systems containing alcohol, it was noticed that with increasing chain length of an alcohol, the solubility decreases. The basic thermal properties of the pure IL, that is, the glass-transition temperature as well as the heat capacity at the glass-transition temperature, have been measured using a differential scanning microcalorimetry technique (DSC). Decomposition of the IL was detected by the simultaneous TG/DTA experiments. Well-known UNIQUAC, Wilson, and NRTL equations have been used to correlate the experimental SLE data sets for alcohols and water. For the systems containing immiscibility gaps {IL + alkane, benzene, alkylbenzene, cycloalkane, tetrahydrofuran, or ether}, the parameters of the LLE correlation have been derived using the NRTL equation.