|
TECHNOLOGY » FAQ
FAQ
What are the advantages of ionic liquids?
Ionic Liquids possess excellent dissolution properties for a lot of organic and inorganic substances but do not show any measurable vapour pressure. Therefore they have increasingly been replacing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in chemical processes or extractions. Interestingly, they are able to improve reaction rates, selectivities and yields! The properties of ionic liquids are tuneable by the choice of the cation/anion combination so that they have been described as "designer-solvents".
Why are ionic liquids so expensive?
The price of ionic liquids is determined by many parameters. As one can imagine, the first quantities of new substances reflect more the labour costs than the cost of the chemicals. When produced in larger quantities the price of Ionic Liquids will of course drop significantly. We expect the future prices of imidazolium-based ionic liquids to be around 40-80 Euro/kg when produced on a ton scale in technical quality.
What are the impurities in ionic liquids?
Most of our ionic liquids are available in 98% quality, while some are available in 99% quality on request. The impurities are either unreacted starting materials, water or residual halide. Please feel free to contact us if you need COAs of our compounds before ordering them or if you would like to discuss your specification issues.
Why are some ionic liquids highly coloured?
Small amounts of impurities can accout for a deep coloration of ionic liquids. While it is possible to obtain colorless ionic liquids , the color is not the crucial parameter for almost all applications regarding ionic liquids. Therefore a compromise between coloration and economics in commercial ionic liquid production is necessary.
Are ionic liquids toxic?
Although ionic liquids have been around for quite some years very few data on toxicity are available. Toxicity information is available for ECOENGTM 500 and shows the LD 50 for rats to be 2000 mg kg -1 . In cooperation with our partners we are currently gathering information about the toxicity of a set of imidazolium-based ionic liquids.
What are the physico-chemical properties of ionic liquids?
As ionic liquids are salts properties such as no measurable vapour pressure, non-flammability and good electric conductivity are common to all ionic liquids. Physico-chemical properties such as melting point or viscosity depend on the cation/anion combination. Please contact us for detailed information about the properties of individual ionic liquids.
Are ionic liquids miscible with organic solvents?
The miscibility of ionic liquids with other solvents pends on their cation/anion combination.
In general, ionic liquids can be regarded as polar, yet non-coordinating substances. Hence, a lot of ionic liquids are miscible with water, dichloromethane and ethanol and tend to be immiscible with diethylether and toluene. Please contact us for more information about the miscibility of individual ionic liquids with organic solvents.
Are ionic liquids available in large quantities?
Ionic liquids have drawn an enormous amount of interest in the last couple of years as can be seen in the exponentially rising number of publications. Although most of the work on ionic liquids is still on research-status, we have decided to go one step further and make two ionic liquids available in multi 100-kg quantities by the end of this year. These two ionic liquids will be ECOENGTM 500 and ECOENGTM 212.
What is the liquidus range of ionic liquids?
As for the other physico-chemical properties, the liquidus range of ionic liquids depends on the cation/anion combination and can range from -81°C up to more than 300 °C. Please contact us for more information about the melting points of certain ionic liquids.
What are the advantages of halogen-free ionic liquids?
Ionic Liquids based on hexafluorophosphate anions can hydrolyze under certain reaction conditions releasing HF and Phosphoric acid which can cause severe corrosion. Furthermore end-of-life treatments of ionic liquids such as combustion and biodegradation do not seem to be an option. Responding to these industrial demands from our customers we have introduced a number of ionic liquids with halogen-free anions, the ECOENGTM - family which do not show any problems associated with the release of HF.
© Solvent Innovation GmbH • Imprint |
