Measurement and Modelling of Carbon Dioxide in Triflate-Based Ionic Liquids: Imidazolium, Pyridinium, and Pyrrolidinium

Carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, represents today a critical environmental challenge for humans. Mitigating CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and other greenhouse gases is a pressing global concern. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the pot...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Liquids
Main Authors: Raheem Akinosho, Amr Henni, Farhan Shaikh
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-05-01
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8015/5/2/15
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Summary:Carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas responsible for global warming, represents today a critical environmental challenge for humans. Mitigating CO<sub>2</sub> emissions and other greenhouse gases is a pressing global concern. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the potential of particular ionic liquids (ILs) in capturing CO<sub>2</sub> for the sweetening of natural and other gases. The solubility of CO<sub>2</sub> was measured in three distinct ILs, which shared a common anion (triflate, TfO) but differed in their cations. The selected ionic liquids were {1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium triflate [BMIM][TfO], 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium triflate [BMP][TfO], and 1-butyl-4-methylpyridium triflate [MBPY][TfO]}. The solvents were screened based on results from a molecular computational study that predicted low CO<sub>2</sub> Henry’s Law constants. Solubility measurements were conducted at 303.15 K, 323.15 K, and 343.15 K and pressures up to 1.5 MPa using a gravimetric microbalance (IGA-003). The CO<sub>2</sub> experimental results were modeled using the Peng–Robinson Equation of state with three mixing rules: van der Waals one (vdWI), van der Waals two (vdWII), and the non-random two-liquid (NRTL) Wong–Sandler (WS) mixing rule. For the three ILs, the NRTL-WS mixing rule regressed the data with the lowest average deviation percentage of 1.24%. The three solvents had similar alkyl chains but slightly different polarities. [MBPY][TfO], with the largest size, exhibited the highest CO<sub>2</sub> solubility at all three temperatures. Calculation of its relative polarity descriptor (N) shows it was the least polar of the three ILs. Conversely, [BMP][TfO] showed the highest Henry’s Law constant (lowest solubility) across the studied temperature range. Comparing the results to published data, the study concludes that triflate-based ionic liquids with three fluorine atoms had lower capacity for CO<sub>2</sub> compared to bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide (Tf2N)-based ionic liquids with six fluorine atoms. Additionally, the study provided data on the enthalpy and entropy of absorption. A final comparison shows that the ILs had a lower CO<sub>2</sub> capacity than Selexol, a solvent widely used in commercial carbon capture operations. Compared to other ILs, the results confirm that the type of anion had a more significant impact on solubility than the cation.
ISSN:2673-8015