Measurements and correlation of activity coefficients at infinite dilution for organic solutes in 1-heptyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride

Abstract

This work is a continuation of our studies on the determination of activity coefficients at infinite dilution (γi∞) for organic solutes (i) in ionic liquids (ILs) and their use in separation processes. The values of γi∞ for 31 organic solutes including alkanes, cycloalkanes, 1,4-dioxane, aromatic hydrocarbons, cyclohexene, chloromethanes, acetonitrile, acetone, tetrahydrofuran, ethyl acetate and alcohols in the IL 1-heptyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([C7MIm]Cl) at six temperatures in range of (313.15–363.15) K were determined by gas-liquid chromatography (GLC). The density of [C7MIm]Cl as a function of temperature at pressure p= 101.33 kPa was measured and the values of gas-liquid partition coefficients (KL) were obtained. The linear relationship between lnγi∞ and 1/T was fitted by the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation. The molar excess thermodynamic functions including the infinite dilution partial molar excess Gibbs free energies (G¯iE,∞), partial molar excess enthalpies (H¯iE,∞) and entropies (TrefS¯iE,∞) at Tref = 298.15 K were calculated. In addition, the solubility parameters (δi) of [C7MIm]Cl were obtained from the regular solution theory combined with Flory “combinatorial” equation. The interaction between the solute and the IL was quantified based on the linear free energy relationship (LFER) model. The infinite dilution selectivity coefficients (Sij∞) of n-hexane (i)/benzene (j) and cyclohexane (i)/benzene (j) were calculated at T = 323.15 K from γi∞ and compared to literature values for [Cl]-based ILs for the same separation problems.