Ionic Liquids As Tunable Toxicity Storage Media for Sustainable Chemical Waste Management

Abstract

Storage and handling of toxic wastes is a toppriority challenge for sustainable development and public health. In recent years, the risk of irreversible environmental pollution has been increasing gradually, necessitating the development of new concepts in this highly demanding area. Here, we report a flexible approach to address the problem using tunable ionic liquids as a carrier and storage medium for chemicals. Encapsulation in microscale tunable media surrounded by an inert ionic liquid facilitates the efficient capture of chemicals. The adaptive character of the designed microscale compartments opens new possibilities for the waste management of chemicals of a diverse nature. Real-time field-emission scanning electron microscopy was used to visualize the formation of microscale compartments upon the sequestration of chemicals in ionic liquids. Ionic liquids captured the chemicals better than traditional organic solvents or water; moreover, the chemicals subsequently could be effectively extracted for destruction or utilization. Our work presents a new model for the sustainable management of chemical wastes; the concept was evaluated for a number of multiton chemicals currently affecting our environment.

Visualization of the Mechanical Wave Effect on Liquid Microphases and Its Application for the Tuning of Dissipative Soft Microreactors

“…After 600 s of sonication, the film covered the major part of the sample surface. On the basis of previously reported observations, 52 − 54 the microdroplets, channels, and films on the sample surface were attributed to the water-rich phase, whereas the rest of the surface was associated with the ionic liquid-rich phase.…”

“…Morphology and dynamic behavior of these structures can be effectively monitored by liquid-phase SEM. 46 , 52 − 54 The unique possibility to observe microstructures created by water in ionic liquid with the use of SEM opened the way for the study of their behavior under different stimuli for creation of efficient methodologies.…”

Neural Network Analysis of Electron Microscopy Video Data Reveals the Temperature‐Driven Microphase Dynamics in the Ions/Water System

“…[ 15–17,31–34 ] Our recent studies demonstrated that microconfinement and liquid–liquid boundary formation on the microscale can be directly observed in ionic liquid/water systems with the use of scanning electron microscopy (SEM). [ 1,35,36 ]…”

Evaluation of Ionic Liquids Based on Amino Acid Anions for Use in Liquid‐junction Free Reference Electrodes

“…To remedy the situation, conventional IL anions can be substituted with glycine, alanine and other amino acid anions . It was demonstrated recently that the amino acid anions significantly reduce the toxicity of the ionic liquids .…”