Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids for Acrylic Acid Separation from Water by Bulk Liquid Membrane and Extraction Methods: A Comparison Study

Recently, ionic liquids as green solvents have received increasing attention due to their notable features. In this context, the separation of acrylic acid from water was investigated using imidazolium-based ionic liquids instead of traditional organic solvents. Bulk liquid membrane (BLM) and reactive extraction methods were used for the acrylic acid separation. Tributyl phosphate (TBP) was utilized as an extractant in these methods. Another objective of investigation also was to compare BLM and extraction methods. Besides, the effects of diverse factors such as type of ionic liquid, the extractant (TBP) concentration and the stripping phase type and concentration were examined. The maximum separation efficiencies were obtained as 97.32% for the BLM method and 76.67% for the reactive extraction method. This comparison study indicated that BLM is an effective method with respect to the reactive extraction for the acrylic acid separation from the water. Imidazolium-based ionic liquids examined in the current work exhibited good removal selectivity for acrylic acid, and it has been observed that these ionic liquids can be utilized for the acrylic acid separation from water.