Special Issue Editor

Dr. Nicole Sofia Morgado Vieira

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Guest Editor

LAQV, REQUIMTE, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
Interests: ionic liquids; green solvents; chemical engineering; pharmaceutical biotechnology; separation processes

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

On my behalf and of my Co-Guest Editors I would like to introduce you and invite you to participate in the Special Issue entitled “Ionic Liquids as New Alternative Engineering Solvents.”

The constant evolution of science merged with the urgent need to develop sustainable products and processes has boosted the development of new alternative solvents for (bio)chemical and engineering process. Amongst these new alternative solvents are ionic liquids (ILs), which contain unique properties (high thermal stability, negligible vapor pressure, reduced flammability, and greener potential), and uncountable combinations between different cations and anions to achieve the final desired properties. Due to these features, ILs have been widely used in several fields such as electrochemistry, energy, catalysis, pharmaceutics, and separation processes.

Articles selected for this Special Issue will cover a broad range of scientific research in subjects where ILs have been emerging as a promising alternative to the existing solutions. Both industrial and academic research involving ILs in different areas of chemical engineering, such as catalysis, environment, electrochemistry, energy, electrochemistry, biotechnology, materials, pharmaceutics, and separation processes can be considered to publication. In addition to the mentioned subjects, papers dealing with new areas of science and technology that fit the broad scope and objectives of the Special Issue are encouraged.

With my best regards,

Dr. Nicole Sofia Morgado Vieira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. ChemEngineering is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

ionic liquids
chemical engineering
catalysis
environment
energy
electrochemistry
biotechnology
materials
pharmaceutics
separation processes

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 2377 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Synthesis and Characterization of Fluorinated Phosphonium Ionic Liquids to Use as New Engineering Solvents

by María C. Naranjo, Andres E. Redondo, Jacqueline C. Acuña, Nicole S. M. Vieira, João M. M. Araújo and Ana B. Pereiro

ChemEngineering 2022, 6(3), 38; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/chemengineering6030038 - 24 May 2022

Viewed by 1987

Abstract

In this work, a set of novel fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs), based on different tetra-alkyl-phosphonium cations with perfluorobutanesulfonate and perfluoropentanoate anions, were synthesized and characterized in order to check their suitability to apply as engineering solvents. Thermophysical and thermal properties were both determined between 293.15 and 353.15 K, and the molecular volumes and free volumes and the coefficients of isobaric thermal expansion were determined from experimental values of refractive index and density. Lastly, the Walden plot was used to evaluate the ionicity of the novel FILs. The cytotoxicity of these compounds was also determined using the human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) and the human colon carcinoma cells (Caco-2). Finally, the results were all discussed with the aim of understanding the behaviour of these compounds, considering the influence of the anion and the hydrogenated alkyl chain length. In summary, the new FILs synthesized in this work present adequate properties for their application in different industrial processes. Most of these compounds are liquid at room temperature with high decomposition temperatures. All phosphonium-based FILs have lower densities than conventional ionic liquids and common organic solvents, and the viscosity depends directly on the selected anion. Furthermore, the ionicity of FILs based on the sulfonate anion is higher than those based on the carboxylate anion. Finally, the phosphonium-based FILs have no significant effect on cellular viability at lower concentrations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids as New Alternative Engineering Solvents)

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Review

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25 pages, 2018 KiB

Open AccessReview

An Overview on the Recent Advances in Alternative Solvents as Stabilizers of Proteins and Enzymes

by Jéssica S. Almeida, Emanuel V. Capela, Ana M. Loureiro, Ana P. M. Tavares and Mara G. Freire

ChemEngineering 2022, 6(4), 51; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/chemengineering6040051 - 01 Jul 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2684

Abstract

Currently, the use of alternative solvents is increasing, namely ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) in diverse fields of knowledge, such as biochemistry, chemistry, chemical engineering, biotechnology and biomedicine. Particularly, when compared to traditional solvents, these alternative solvents have great importance for biomolecules due to the enhanced solubility, structure stability and the biological activity of biomolecules, such as protein and enzymes. Thus, in this review article, the recent developments and efforts on the technological developments carried out with ILs and DESs for the stabilization and activation of proteins and enzymes are provided. The most studied IL- and DES-based formulations for proteins and enzymes are discussed and the molecular mechanisms and interactions related to the increased stability promoted by these alternative solvents are disclosed, while emphasizing their main advantages. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids as New Alternative Engineering Solvents)

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21 pages, 349 KiB

Open AccessReview

Ionic Liquids as Components of Systems for Metal Extraction

by Pavel A. Yudaev and Evgeniy M. Chistyakov

ChemEngineering 2022, 6(1), 6; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/chemengineering6010006 - 06 Jan 2022

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5632

Abstract

This review addresses research and development on the use of ionic liquids as extractants and diluents in the solvent extraction of metals. Primary attention is given to the efficiency and selectivity of metal extraction from industrial wastewater with ionic liquids composed of various cations and anions. The review covers literature sources published in the period of 2010–2021. The bibliography includes 98 references dedicated to research on the extraction and separation of lanthanides (17 sources), actinides (5 sources), heavy metals (35 sources), noble metals, including the platinum group (16 sources), and some other metals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ionic Liquids as New Alternative Engineering Solvents)

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