Alternative sources of fuel is a vast field of opportunity that has not yet been successfully utilized or maximized. One reason for this is that organisms such as algae and bacteria that are used for the production of biofuels often die as a result of accumulating hydrocarbons on the cell membrane. The solution to this problem could lie in the use of ionic liquids (ILs), which could serve as a way to collect the hydrocarbons being produced without disturbing the cells, and in turn also provide a protecting agent for the organism producing the fuels. Hydrocarbon-based biofuels produced by bacterial cells in an aqueous solution can be extracted with water-immiscible ionic liquids. The ionic liquid-biofuel mixture is separated from the cell-containing aqueous solution for isolation of the hydrocarbons. The ionic liquids themselves are “green” in that they are recycled, mostly due to the fact the structure of the IL is unchanged following extraction. The ionic liquids are optimized to be non-toxic to the biofuel-producing organisms, and to maximize their solvation properties of hydrocarbons. The main structural<br/>properties contained within these new ionic liquids include organic cations to increase water-immiscibility, and hydrophobic anions to improve hydrocarbon solubility. The successful production of ionic liquids that have hydrocarbon carrying capacity and non-toxic cellular activity would be a major breakthrough in the cost effectiveness of producing biofuels.

Ionic liquids as green extractants of biofuels

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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