Transport processes of an ionic liquid in various soils

Abstract

Ionic liquids are a new class of chemicals which are finding application in a wide varietyof chemical processes. Due to the wide range of possible application in industrialprocesses, the ionic liquids should be evaluated before they enter the environment. Aspart of a sustainable development of chemicals, the fate of the chemical needs to beassessed and interactions characterized. Soils form an essential part of this assessment.This study defines and evaluates interaction of an ionic liquid, l -butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, with the soil component. This entity was chosendue to its frequent applicability in various organic and catalytic processes and it is likelythat it will be soon produced on an industrial scale.Aim of our work focused on the assessment of the partition coefficients of ionic liquidwith different types of saturated soils. The soils used in the experiment were forestry soil,agricultural soil, fluvial agricultural soil, fluvial meadow soil and kaolinite. The partitioncoefficients were determined using equilibrium batch tests. The influences of other factorssuch as pH or ionic strength on sorption dependency of the ionic liquid were also studied.