No abstract

No abstract

A liquid–liquid extraction methodology was developed for the removal of Cr(VI) from contaminated water using a novel green hydrophobic deep eutectic solvent (DES) as an efficient sole extracting agent. The hydrophobic DES was obtained by mixing choline chloride and thymol in 1:4 molar ratio at 70°C for 10 min and was denoted as ChCl‐THY(1:4). The ChCl‐THY(1:4) works efficiently for removal of high (20 mg/L) and low (500 µg/L) concentration of Cr(VI) from artificially contaminated natural water with >95% extraction efficiency (E%) at optimized reaction conditions (pH 2–6, 40°C). The DES was characterized by 1H NMR and FTIR spectroscopy, and the data suggest that interaction occurs between Cl− ion of choline chloride and H atoms of thymol molecules. Physicochemical properties such as density, melting point, moisture, and solubility were studied and discussed. Herein, no sharp melting point was observed for ChCl‐THY(1:4) in DSC curve. DES was regenerated using 0.1 M NaOH as stripping agent, and 50%–60% extraction efficiency could be attained in the next cycle. A plausible mechanism of interaction between Cr(VI) species and DES was also explored with the help of FTIR spectroscopy. Practitioner Points A novel hydrophobic DES (ChCl‐THY) is prepared by mixing choline chloride and thymol at 1:4 molar ratio. ChCl‐THY(1:4) is employed for the first time as sole extracting agent to remove the Cr(VI) from contaminated aqueous solution. >95% extraction efficiency was achieved by ChCl‐THY(1:4) in natural water conditions at µg/L and mg/L level of contamination. Both the component used to prepare the DES are naturally abundant; hence, DES is not toxic for biota. The element present in natural water did not show any interference with extraction of Cr(VI).

No abstract

No abstract