Phase Behaviour of Ternary Ionic Liquid Systems

3 Phase Behaviour of Ternary Ionic Liquid Systems 

The phase behaviour of four elasses of ternary ionic liquid systems has been determined (i) ionic liquid + carbon dioxide + organic, (ii) ionic 

1 Phase Behaviour of (Ionic Liquid + Carbon Dioxide + Organic) 

The conditions at which the different phase transitions occur depends on the type of organic, the type of ionic liquid and the concentrations. Stronger interaction between the ionic liquid and the organic makes it more difficult for CO2 to induce the formation of a second liquid phase. This difference in affinity was used for selective extraction of specific organics from ionic liquids by using CO2. CO2 at low concentrations was found to work as co-solvent (increasing the solubility of organics into the ionic liquid phase). 

When an organic reaction is carried out in an (ionic liquid + CO2) system, the reaction rate depends strongly on the number of phases present. The highest reactions rates are obtained in the homogeneous liquid phase. By switching back to the multiphase regime, the product can be recovered from the phase that does not contain any ionic liquid. 

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