Editors: | F. Kongoli, M. Gaune-Escard, J. Dupont, R. Fehrmann, A. Loidl, D. MacFarlane, R. Richert, M. Watanabe, L. Wondraczek, M. Yoshizawa-Fujita, Y. Yue |
Publisher: | Flogen Star OUTREACH |
Publication Year: | 2019 |
Pages: | 177 pages |
ISBN: | 978-1-989820-00-1 |
ISSN: | 2291-1227 (Metals and Materials Processing in a Clean Environment Series) |
Ionic liquids are currently investigated as promising materials for the absorption, storage, and separation of gases, such as CO2 [1], and H2S [2] among others. Ionic liquids based on the imidazolium cation are intensively studied for these purposes [3]. The possibility of combining distinct cations with different anions permits an easy design of ionic liquids. In an attempt to extract the structure-gas absorption relationship, we performed molecular dynamics computer simulations [4] on ionic liquids containing the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and several anions (acetate, prolinate, BF4-, Br-) interacting under typical experimental conditions (298 K, 10 bar gas pressure) with different gases (CO2, N2, methane, H2 S). Two series of simulations have been carried out to characterize the physical absorption of the gases: i) ionic liquids containing 0.25 molar fractions of the gases, and ii) pure ionic liquids interacting with the gas phase.
The first series of simulations revealed that the structure of the ionic liquids is essentially maintained when the gas is dissolved. N2 and methane are only found in the apolar domains of the ionic liquids presenting a tendency of separating phases, whereas CO2 and H2S also enter the polar domains of the ionic liquid producing stable solutions. The second series of simulations demonstrated that the ionic liquids only weakly absorb N2 and methane, but are able to capture large amounts of CO2 and, especially, H2S from the gas phase. In this process of physical absorption of the gases, the small BF4- anion, offering several coordination sides for the gas molecules, performs best.