The inadvertent release of harmful chemicals into the environment has been, and continues to be, a growing concern for decades. This is particularly true with the industrialization of developing countries. Solutions to these potential environmental problems have been developed, but in some cases can be costly, inefficient or introduce new hazards. One potential solution is to use ionic liquids, which are non-volatile organic solvents. They possess the necessary chemical properties to ensure efficient extraction of dissolved aqueous contaminants through a biphasic process. Ionic liquids therefore provide a “single-pot” approach to extracting and separating constituents in an efficient manner. Efficient extraction properties of ionic liquids have been shown by extracting a mixture of organic contaminants from an aqueous solution into an ionic liquid layer. The extraction solutions of complex mixtures can be separated to yield individual contaminants, also resulting in the recycling of the ionic liquid solvent. Following separation and isolation, analysis using absorption, infrared, fluorescence and mass spectroscopy can be used to validate complete extraction and recovery of trace analytes, thus demonstrating the versatility of this single-component extraction-separation-identification method. Utilizing the phase transfer properties of ionic liquids by extracting harmful compounds – both organic and inorganic in nature – in aqueous systems provides a novel approach to decontamination, allows for recyclability of the solvent, and does not introduce further hazards or contaminants to the aqueous system. Reducing harmful waste by reusing materials will not only improve the efficiency of disposal efforts but also reduce the hazards and costs of starting materials.

Extraction and separation of contaminants in water systems

249th National Meeting (2015)

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