Ionic liquid technology to recover volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) comprise a wide variety of carbon-based materials which are volatile at relatively low temperatures. Most of VOCs pose a hazard to both human health and the environment. For this reason, in the last years, big efforts have been made to develop efficient techniques for the recovery of VOCs produced from industry. The use of ionic liquids (ILs) is among the most promising separation technologies in this field. This article offers a critical overview on the use of ionic liquids for the separation of VOCs both in bulk and in immobilized form. It covers the most relevant works within this field and provides a global outlook on the limitations and future prospects of this technology. The extraction processes of VOCs by using different IL-based assemblies are described in detail and compared with conventional methods This review also underlines the advantages and limitations posed by ionic liquids according to the nature of the cation and the anions present in their structure and the stability of the membrane configurations in which ILs are used as liquid phase.
Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Campus Muralla del Mar, E-30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: mariajose.salar@upct.es.
M J
MJ
Salar-García
Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Campus Muralla del Mar, E-30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: victor.ortiz@upct.es.
V M
VM
Ortiz-Martínez
Polytechnic University of Cartagena, Chemical and Environmental Engineering Department, Campus Muralla del Mar, E-30202 Cartagena, Murcia, Spain.
F J
FJ
Hernández-Fernández
University of Murcia, Chemical Engineering Department, Campus de Espinardo, E-30071 Murcia, Spain.
A P
AP
de Los Ríos
University of Murcia, Chemical Engineering Department, Campus de Espinardo, E-30071 Murcia, Spain.
J
J
Quesada-Medina
Ionic liquids; Separation technology; Supported ionic liquid membrane; Volatile organic compounds