Zoran P. Visak

A detailed thermodynamic analysis of [C4mim][BF4]+ water as a case study to model ionic liquid aqueous solutions

Since determining experimentally a wide variety of thermophysical properties—even for a very small portion of the already known room temperature ionic liquids (and their mixtures and solutions)—is an impossible goal, it is imperative that reliable predictive methods be developed. In turn, these methods might offer us clues to understanding the underlying ion–ion and ion–molecule interactions. 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, one of the most thoroughly investigated ionic liquids, together with water, the greenest of the solvents, have been chosen in this work in order to use their mixtures as a case study to model other, greener, ionic liquid aqueous solutions. We focus our attention both on very simple methodologies that permit one to calculate accurately the mixtures molar volumes and heat capacities as well as more sophisticated theories to predict excess properties, pressure and isotope effects in the phase diagrams, and anomalies in some response functions to criticality, with a minimum of information. In regard to experimental work, we have determined: (a) densities as a function of temperature (278.15 < T/K < 333.15), pressure (1 < p/bar < 600), and composition (0 < xIL < 1), thus also excess molar volumes; (b) heat capacities and excess molar enthalpies as a function of temperature (278.15 < T/K < 333.15) and composition (0 < xIL < 1); and (c) liquid–liquid phase diagrams and their pressure (1 < p/bar < 700) and isotopic (H2O/D2O) dependences. The evolution of some of the aforementioned properties in their approach to the critical region has deserved particular attention.

Volumetric Properties and Spectroscopic Studies of Pyridine or Nicotine Solutions in Liquid Polyethylene Glycols

Densities and molar excess volumes of the solutions of pyridine or nicotine in liquid polyethylene glycol, PEG200 and PEG400, have been determined at several temperatures. The experimental molar excess volumes are negative, thus indicating strong attractive interactions between the components, as could be expected considering their highly polar nature and good hydrogen bond abilities. For the pyridine systems, this negativity is slightly increased as the temperature rises, while the opposite tendency is observed for the nicotine mixtures. When pyridine and nicotine solutions are compared, the former-particularly those with PEG400-exhibit substantially more negative molar excess volumes than the latter. The effect of the polymer chain length on the results for the nicotine solutions is almost negligible. However, this is not the case when pyridine is one of the components: a longer chain induced considerably higher compression on mixing. The Fourier-transform infrared analysis allowed interpretation of the negative experimental molar excess volumes in terms of specific inter- and intramolecular interactions.

Two ways of looking at Prigogine and Defay's equation

In the search for understanding of several types of abnormal thermodynamic behaviour in the vicinity of critical lines of binary liquid mixtures, we have revisited an apparently forgotten relationship between the pressure dependence of the critical temperature and the second derivatives with respect to the composition of the volumetric and enthalpic properties of the mixture. We refer to an equation originally developed in the fifties by Prigogine and Defay and soon afterwards analysed by others. Under some restrictive assumptions, the T–p slope of the critical locus can simply be inferred from the ratio between vE and hE. The interest and usefulness of this approximate relation is self-evident. Values for any one of the three properties involved,(dT/dp)c, vE or hE, can be assessed based on the availability of the other two. Moreover, the amplitude of the divergence of thermodynamic response functions to criticality are intimately associated with the slope of the critical locus. A link between critical behaviour and solution excess properties is thus established. For instance, double critical points tend to occur if one of the excess properties changes its sign as the temperature or pressure is varied. In this work, we have started a detailed study of the practical limits of validity of the approximate relation. Five binary liquid mixtures were tested, all of them sharing a UCST/LCSP-type of phase transition. Although, from a theoretical perspective, the original second-derivatives approach should perform better, in practice, the direct ratio of the excess properties constitutes a superior strategy for obtaining (dT/dp)c values. The underlying reasons for this are discussed in detail. The T–p critical slope is normally found to play a secondary role in assessing the critical amplitudes of diverging thermodynamic functions.

Some Aspects of Ionic Liquids as Diverse and Versatile Sustainable Solvents

In this mini review several particular cases of ionic liquid solution behavior are discussed, namely solutions of ionic liquids with aliphatic alcohols, polyalcohols, arenes, chloromethanes and poly(ethyleneglycol) as well as salting-out and salting-in effects. The presented cases clearly expose ionic liquids as being diverse and versatile sustainable solvents that exhibit flexible phase behavior and, consequently, variable phase diagrams. These can be tuned either by changing the length of the alkyl chain(s) of the ionic liquid’s cation (and/or sometimes the anion), or by introducing a different aliphatic nature to the other solution constituent (e.g., by varying polymer chain length or the number of carbon atoms in chloromethanes). Sometimes, the evolution of the phase diagrams is fine and continuous, showing several consecutive stages, revealing both qualitative and quantitative changes. Finally, the diversity and versatility of ionic liquids are viewed as important features that contribute to their efficiency as tunable solvents or salting media.

PHASE EQUILIBRIUM IN COMPLEX LIQUIDS UNDER NEGATIVE PRESSURE

Liquids under some specific external condition are referred as complex liquids. One of these specific conditions is the stretching of liquids, where the pressure can be negative. There are several studies of the behaviour of these extended liquids, but only a very few of them are concerned with the phase equilibrium. Because no gas phase can exist under negative pressure, these equilibria can be only liquid-liquid or liquid-solid ones.

Effects of solid poly (ethylene glycols) addition to the solutions of aniline or N,N-dimethylaniline with water: Experimental measurements and modelling

In this work, the liquid-liquid and solid-liquid phase behaviour of ten aqueous pseudo-binary and three binary systems containing polyethylene glycol (PEG) 2050, polyethylene glycol 35000, aniline, N,N-dimethylaniline and water, in the temperature range 298.15-350.15 K and at ambient pressure of 0.1 MPa, was studied. The obtained temperature-composition phase diagrams showed that the only functional co-solvent was PEG2050 for aniline in water, while PEG35000 even showed a clear anti-solvent effect in the N,N-dimethylaniline aqueous system. The experimental solid-liquid equilibria (SLE) data have been correlated by the non-random two-liquid (NRTL) model, and the correlation results are in accordance with the experimental results.

Nicotine aqueous solutions: pH-measurements and salting-out effects - analysis of the effective Gibbs energies of hydration and ionic strengths of the solutions

This work is a continuation of our previous studies on the phase demixing - salting-out effects - in aqueous nicotine solutions. Thus, pH measurements were carried out allowing a brief analysis of the existing hydrogen bond interactions. Salting-out effects - the related experimental cloud point shifts - provoked by the addition of two inorganic salts, potassium nitrate and sodium sulfate, which were not studied so far, were determined. Analysis of the current and our previously reported salting-out/or salting-in phenomena in nicotine aqueous solutions was performed. In this respect, five studied salts were included: four inorganic salts (sodium chloride, potassium nitrate, sodium sulfate and sodium phosphate (Na3PO4)) and ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate ([C2mim][EtSO4] or ECOENG212®). Based on the pH measurements the effective Gibbs energies of hydration and ionic strengths of the respective ternary solutions were calculated and plotted against the related cloud-point shifts caused by the addition of the salts. For the studied salts, the results and diagram obtained within this work may be used to predict the cloud-points shifts, based on the related quantities of the salts added and/or the molar Gibbs energies of hydration and/or ionic strengths requested in each case. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172063]

MEASURING THE PROPERTIES OF LIQUIDS AND LIQUID MIXTURES AT ABSOLUTE NEGATIVE PRESSURES

An overview of experimental work recently performed in the Lisbon laboratories is provided. Several physical properties of liquids as well as those of the coexistence between two liquid phases and between liquid and solid have been determined at absolute negative pressures. Examples for this include thermal pressure coefficients, loci of temperature of maximum density, negatively sloped melting lines, speed of propagation of low-intensity ultrasound waves, and (p, T, x) conditions of occurrence of liquid-liquid phase separation. The major achievements that emerged within the scope of this research program were: (i) the first experimental evidence for the existence of a TMD in supercooled and stretched gallium, and (ii) the first experimental detection of phase separation phenomena in molecular liquid mixtures under tension.