Application of imidazolium based ionic liquids grafted on microcrystalline cellulose as demulsifiers for water in crude oil (W/O) emulsions

Separation of water and oil from water-in-oil (W/O) emulsion before transportation and refining is very important and critical. Ionic liquids (ILs) and their derivatives have recently attracted much attention as efficient chemical agents for breaking emulsions. So, here, a series of microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) grafted with imidazolium-based ionic liquids (IM-ILs) were synthesized, named as MCC@IM-ILs, and evaluated as eco-friendly surface-active agents for the separation of water from the crude oil. Structure of the synthesized compounds was confirmed by different characterization techniques. Dehydration efficiency percent (DE%) of the synthesized demulsifiers was measured and compared with each other. Synthesized MCC@IM-ILs showed an acceptable DE% to demulsify three kinds of W/O emulsions with different water content after 5 min. Concentration, alkyl chain length, and counter-anion of the synthesized MCC@IM-ILs play a key role in separating water from crude oil. Demulsifier with C10 alkyl chain length showed better DE% than the corresponding demulsifier with C6 alkyl chain length in the W/O (30:70 v/v) emulsion. Also, demulsifier with Br counter anion showed lower DE% than the corresponding BF4 ion-exchanged compound with higher hydrophilicity. Synthesized demulsifiers immobilized on ILs have significant advantages compared to unsupported ILs due to the use of green and economical cellulosic substrate.