Ionic Liquids and Eutectic Mixtures for Green Catalytic Processes

A special issue of Catalysts (ISSN 2073-4344). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Catalysis".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 2152

Special Issue Editors


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Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde-Rede de Química e Tecnologia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Interests: chemical engineering; green chemistry; supercritical fluid (CO2) technology; catalysis, alternative solvents; carbon dioxide utilization; biomass-derived platform chemicals
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde-Rede de Química e Tecnologia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Interests: green chemistry; renewable resources; supercritical CO2; CO2 as a C1 building block; catalysis; organic carbonates; cyclic carbonates; reaction mixtures phase behavior; process intensification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ionic liquids and eutectic mixtures are distinct classes of solvents, but they share many characteristics, and both of them promise to overcome the shortcomings of conventional solvents in the design of environmentally sustainable processes. Defined as green “designer” solvents, they offer extraordinary advantages and find applications in many fields, including catalysis. At first, they were mainly applied as reaction/processing media, but soon they became (co-)catalysts, promotors, stabilizing agents, and/or ligands. With the great number of possible combinations of ions or particular components constituting ionic liquids and eutectic mixtures, respectively, every day there are increases in examples where they have been applied in various transformations, including organic and organometallic, as well as bio-, electro-, or photochemical catalytic processes. Yet, there still remain many challenges to be addressed in order to fully understand their nature and particular properties, as well as being able to use them in task-specific applications.

This Special Issue invites the submission of full research articles, comprehensive reviews, and communications representing both experimental and theoretical studies that explore the fundamental understanding of ionic liquids and/or eutectic mixtures, their new methods of preparation, and their role in the design of environmentally friendly procedures.

Dr. Małgorzata Zakrzewska
Dr. Ana Nunes
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • molten salt
  • ionic liquid catalysis
  • deep eutectic system (DES)
  • low-transition temperature mixture (LTTM)
  • low-melting mixture
  • catalysis
  • separation
  • fundamental studies
  • physicochemical properties
  • phase equilibria
  • alternative solvents
  • green chemistry
  • sustainability

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Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 2959 KiB  
Article
A Green Chemistry Approach to Catalytic Synthesis of Ethyl Levulinate
by Martina Sušjenka, Fran Prašnikar, Martina Jakovljević Kovač, Maja Molnar, Luz Fernandes, Ana Vital Marques Nunes, Ana Rita Cruz Duarte and Małgorzata Ewa Zakrzewska
Catalysts 2024, 14(12), 842; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14120842 - 21 Nov 2024
Viewed by 143
Abstract
Esterification of levulinic acid with ethanol was investigated using deep eutectic systems based on choline chloride and oxalic or p-toluenesulfonic acid as catalysts under conventional heating and alternative energy inputs, namely microwave, ultrasound, and mechanochemical treatment. The experiments were performed under varying operating [...] Read more.
Esterification of levulinic acid with ethanol was investigated using deep eutectic systems based on choline chloride and oxalic or p-toluenesulfonic acid as catalysts under conventional heating and alternative energy inputs, namely microwave, ultrasound, and mechanochemical treatment. The experiments were performed under varying operating conditions such as catalyst type and loading, alcohol to carboxylic acid molar ratio, temperature, or time. The obtained results demonstrate the overall better catalytic performance of the p-toluenesulfonic acid-based deep eutectic mixture in comparison with the oxalic acid-based analogue. The best results: levulinic acid conversion of 76% and 58%, for p-toluenesulfonic and oxalic acid containing deep eutectic systems, respectively, with 100% selectivity for both cases, were achieved for microwave-assisted synthesis with 5 wt.% of catalyst and excess alcohol to acid (molar ratio 5), at 413.15 K and for 10 min. The main advantage of all of the alternative activation methods studied (microwaves, ultrasounds, and ball mill processing) was the significant reduction in the reaction time. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids and Eutectic Mixtures for Green Catalytic Processes)
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12 pages, 6109 KiB  
Article
Facile Construction of Supported Polyoxometalate Ionic Liquids for Deep Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuel
by Shuang Tong, Tianqi Huang, Mengyue Chen, Zidan Zhu, Chao Wang, Hongping Li and Ming Zhang
Catalysts 2024, 14(11), 796; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14110796 - 7 Nov 2024
Viewed by 449
Abstract
A series of commercial silica-supported polyoxometalate ionic liquids ([Cnmim]3PMo12O40) with different substitutes in the imidazole ring were prepared via a facile ball milling method and employed as catalysts in the oxidative desulfurization of organosulfur compounds. [...] Read more.
A series of commercial silica-supported polyoxometalate ionic liquids ([Cnmim]3PMo12O40) with different substitutes in the imidazole ring were prepared via a facile ball milling method and employed as catalysts in the oxidative desulfurization of organosulfur compounds. The experimental results demonstrated that the active polyoxometalate center was successfully immobilized with a highly uniform dispersion on the silica. Without any organic solvent as the extractant, sulfur removal with the sample C16PMo/SiO2-BM reached 99.5% in 30 min under the optimal condition, which was ascribed to the high specific surface area and lipophilicity. In addition, the active site was verified by a free radical trapping experiment and an ESR spin capture experiment. In addition, the oxidative product was confirmed by GC-MS analysis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids and Eutectic Mixtures for Green Catalytic Processes)
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11 pages, 5855 KiB  
Article
Ionic Liquid Modification of High-Pt-Loading Pt/C Electrocatalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Application
by Fengshun Cheng, Yuchen Guo, Xinhong Liang, Fanqiushi Yue, Yichang Yan, Yang Li, Yuanzhi Zhu, Yanping He and Shangfeng Du
Catalysts 2024, 14(6), 344; https://doi.org/10.3390/catal14060344 - 25 May 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1098
Abstract
Ionic liquid modification for carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) electrocatalysts to enhance their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity has been well recognized. However, the research has only been reported on the low-Pt-loading Pt/C electrocatalysts, e.g., 20 wt%, while in practical applications, usually high-Pt-loading Pt/C electrocatalysts [...] Read more.
Ionic liquid modification for carbon-supported platinum (Pt/C) electrocatalysts to enhance their oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity has been well recognized. However, the research has only been reported on the low-Pt-loading Pt/C electrocatalysts, e.g., 20 wt%, while in practical applications, usually high-Pt-loading Pt/C electrocatalysts of 45–60 wt% are used. In this work, ionic liquid modification is systematically investigated for a Pt/C electrocatalyst with 60 wt% Pt loading for its ORR activity in the cathode in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Various adsorption amounts are studied on the catalyst surface. Different modification behavior is found. Mechanism exploration shows that the adsorption of ionic liquid mainly happens on the Pt electrocatalyst surface and in the micropores of the carbon support. The highest fuel cell power performance is achieved at an ionic liquid loading of 7 wt%, which is much higher than the 3 wt% reported for the low-Pt-loading Pt/C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids and Eutectic Mixtures for Green Catalytic Processes)
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