Silica-Supported Ionic Liquids for Heat-Powered Sorption Desalination

Ahmed Askalany, Christopher Olkis, Emilia Bramanti, Dmitry Lapshin, Luigi Calabrese, Edoardo Proverbio, Angelo Freni, Giulio Santori

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2019 Oct 9;11(40):36497-36505.

PMID: 31512475

Abstract:

This work investigates the application of novel sorption materials to heat-powered desalination systems. Two ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (Emim-Ac) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate (Emim-Oms) were impregnated in two silica supports, namely, Syloid AL-1FP and Syloid 72FP. Emim-Ac and Emim-Oms composite sorbents have been compared on morphology, water vapor sorption equilibrium, and heat of sorption. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy shows that the ionic liquid partly self-organizes on the silica surface. When used in a sorption desalination process powered by low grade heat at 60 °C, these composites have exceptionally high theoretical working capacities ranging from 1 to 1.7 gwater gsorbent-1. Experimental tests on a lab scale desalinator show that Emim-Ac/Syloid 72FP in real operating conditions can produce 25 kgwater kgsorbent-1 day-1. To date, this yield is 2.5 times higher than the best achieved with silica gel.

Chemicals Related in the Paper:

Catalog Number	Product Name	Structure	CAS Number	Price
AP145022453	1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate		145022-45-3	Price