Sustainable Pathways to Indole Scaffolds Facilitated by Ionic Liquids

Understanding aggregation behavior of Tetronics®-ionic liquid interactions via cloud point, DLS, SANS, and computational approach.

Ionic liquids for biomacromolecule purification: from molecular interactions to practical applications.

Ion-conducting colloidal gels based on ionic liquids and clays: Dynamic processes at the phase interface

To mitigate plastic waste and advance a circular economy, ionic liquids (ILs) are promising solvents for chemical recycling of polymers. Despite repeated calls for integrated assessments of IL-based recycling systems, such studies remain scarce. Here, we report the first conceptual process design and techno-economic analysis (TEA) of IL-based remonomerization of polyamide 6 (PA6) to ε-caprolactam, together with the first comprehensive solvent screening for purifying and extracting caprolactam from the hydrophilic phase, showing that economic viability can be achieved under the defined assumptions. In the benchmark process using ethyl acetate as the extraction solvent, IL recovery is insufficient for profitability, as confirmed by our sensitivity analysis. To address this, we screened more than 900 solvents using a graph neural network (GNN), followed by cross-validation of top candidates through COSMO-RS and UNIFAC, and subsequent experimental validation. This approach yielded a comprehensive ranking, with 1-octanol, 2-octanol, 1-heptanol, 2-octanone, and pentyl acetate emerging as greener, higher-performing alternatives to conventional solvents. The redesigned, heat-integrated process, featuring reduced IL make-up and 1-octanol-based caprolactam extraction, achieves payback within three years under base-case assumptions and within eight years under a conservative uncertainty bound. If the IL recovery is limited to 99.5 %, the IL price must remain below $14.9 per kg to maintain economic viability. Even with ±10 % variations in other uncertain parameters, the 15-year net present value remains positive. Since all major profitability drivers, such as IL recovery, PA6 conversion, IL quantity, and IL price, are closely tied to IL properties, systematic IL screening and selection would be essential for further technological advancement. • First TEA and process design of IL-based chemical recycling of nylon to caprolactam. • GNN screened over 900 solvents for liquid-liquid extraction of caprolactam. • 1-Octanol outperforms ethyl acetate as an extraction solvent. • Redesigned and heat-integrated process reaches profitability within 3 years. • Maximum nylon-6 waste price including sorting and pre-purification is $5.9 per kg.

Dynamic diels-alder reaction crosslinked metal-organic framework/poly (ionic liquid) composite solid electrolyte for lithium-metal batteries.

Fabrication of dual-functional poly(ionic liquid) adsorptive membranes for enhanced artemisinin separation and antibacterial activities

Simple preparation of poly(ionic liquids) containing hydrogen bond donors for efficient catalysis of CO2 cycloaddition

Synergistic catalysis of cellulose acetate-poly(ionic liquid) composite catalysts toward CO2 cycloaddition reaction

Investigation of enantioselective differences of chiral deep eutectic solvents based on natural organic acids with different configurations in capillary electrophoresis.

Covalent grafting of hydrophobic ionic liquids onto multi-amine carbon nitride for efficient dehydrogenation of secondary amine

Study on mass transfer of CO2 absorption by tertiary amine-based protic ionic liquids in microchannel and the activation effect of monoethanolamine (MEA)

Rational design of ionic liquids empowered by various machine learning strategy for enhanced ammonia capture

Exploring the effect of ionic liquids as anolytes in photoelectrochemical-driven water splitting

Structural and harmonic force fields studies of anhydrous, mono and dihydrated tetraphenylphosphonium chloride salts for ionic liquids

Synergistic design of ionic liquid monomers and MOF-cellulose scaffolds for selective protein recognition in molecularly imprinted materials.

Ionic liquid functionalized h-BN enhanced polyurethane power battery sealants

Polyamide gel electrolytes based on AlCl3/guanidine hydrochloride ionic liquid analogue electrolytes for high-performance aluminum batteries

Lignin-empowered self-healing biomass ionogels for multi-modal flexible sensing.

Synergistic solvation engineering of ionic liquid electrolytes enables highly reversible Zn anode under wide temperatures