New composite materials (ionogels) have been obtained based on imidazolium ionic liquids immobilized in highly porous polymers, i.e., polyamide 6,6 (nylon 6,6) and low-density polyethylene. A method has been proposed for determining the rate of ionic liquid removal from an ionogel upon contact with water, with this method being based on continuous measuring the conductivity of an aqueous phase. The results of the conductometric measurements have been confirmed by high-performance liquid chromatography data. It has been shown that the stability of ionogels upon contact with water is determined by both the hydrophobicity of a polymer matrix and the solubility of an ionic liquid in water. The highest degree of ionic liquid removal (more than 80%) has been observed for composites based on porous polyamide 6,6 (hydrophilic matrix) and dicyanimide 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (completely miscible with water). Ionogels based on lowdensity polyethylene (hydrophobic matrix) and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (poorly soluble, 1 wt %, in water) have shown the highest stability (washout degree of no more than 53% over 24 h). The method proposed for analyzing the rate of ionic liquid dissolution in water has been used to discuss the mechanism of this process.
Read full abstract