Dr. Cabezas-Cornejo, René

Ionic liquids have attracted widespread attention due to their low melting points, low vapor pressure, and non-flammability. However, their application at industrial scale is uncommon due to high costs and low recovering efficiency of the ionic liquids within the process. To reduce the costs and environmental effects of ionic liquids, this study proposes to use industrial microwave irradiation to recover eight different ionic liquids from water. The heating kinetics and identification between dielectric and convective heat properties were studied. Imidazolium-based ionic liquids showed the best results, reaching higher temperatures in shorter periods of time. Ionic liquid (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) trihexyl(tetradecyl) phosphonium imide ([P6,6,6,14][Tf2N]) reached a temperature of 398 K in 360 s). On the other hand, the ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate ([bmim][CH3OSO3]) reached a temperature of 417 K in 150 s). the ionic liquid Microwave heating experiments (water/ionic liquids) demonstrated a 90% recovery in ∼200 s for 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([omim][Cl]). Finally, the time used to heat-up ionic liquids with microwave irradiation was 15 times shorter than the time employed with vacuum-assisted distillation. Therefore, microwave-assisted heating has shown to be an excellent form to heat ionic liquids to decrease the cost of the extraction process and improve their reusability.

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are a category of a new class of solvents that can overcome some of the main drawbacks of typical solvents and ionic liquids (ILs). DES have been widely investigated and applied by the research community in several applications since their invention. Over the past years, the use of DES has been directed to the production of new materials and items for new products and processes. This is the case for the implementation of DES in various fields of chemical engineering directed to separations. DES have been very recently initiated to be combined into membranes for membrane processes. In this regard, this Review timely elucidates the current progress in utilizing this new generation of solvents in membrane preparation. In this work, different techniques, methods, and strategies for incorporating DES into polymer membranes for different concepts of membranes according to the final application have been reviewed. Particular emphasis has been devoted to the most relevant development works and results. After the current literature was analyzed, the main challenges and possibilities of DES in membranes were declared.