| Abstract: | Ionic liquids (ILs), named also as liquid salts, are compounds that have unique properties and molecular architecture. ILs are used in various industries; however, due to their toxicity, the ILs’ recovery from the postreaction solutions is also a very important issue. In this paper, the possibility of 1,3-dialkylimidazolium IL, especially the N,N-dibutylimidazolium chloride (C4C4IM]Cl) recovery by using the electrodialysis (ED) method was investigated. The influence of C4C4IM]Cl concentration in diluate solution on the ED efficiency was determined. Moreover, the influence of IL on the ion-exchange membranes’ morphology was examined. The recovery of C4C4IM]Cl, the C4C4IM]Cl flux across membranes, the C4C4IM]Cl concentration degree, the energy consumption, and the current efficiency were determined. The results showed that the ED allows for the C4C4IM]Cl recovery and concentration from dilute solutions. It was found that the C4C4IM]Cl content in the concentrates after ED was above three times higher than in the initial diluate solutions. It was noted that the ED of solutions containing 5–20 g/L C4C4IM]Cl allows for ILs recovery in the range of 73.77–92.45% with current efficiency from 68.66% to 92.99%. The C4C4IM]Cl recovery depended upon the initial C4C4IM]Cl concentration in the working solution. The highest C4C4IM]Cl recovery (92.45%) and ED efficiency (92.99%) were obtained when the C4C4IM]Cl content in the diluate solution was equal 20 g/L. Presented results proved that ED can be an interesting and effective method for the C4C4IM]Cl recovery from the dilute aqueous solutions. |
