Salting-out in aqueous solutions of ionic liquids and K 3PO 4: Aqueous biphasic systems and salt precipitation

The salting-out effect produced by the addition of potassium phosphate, K3PO4to aqueous solutions of water-miscible ionic liquids, viz. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazoliumethyl sulfate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate, or 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (alkyl = butyl, octyl or decyl) is investigated. The effects areanalyzed using both the corresponding temperature–composition pseudo-binary andcomposition ternary phase diagrams. Different regions of liquid-liquid and solid-liquidphase demixing are mapped. The phase behavior is interpreted taking into account thecomplex and competing nature of the interactions between the ionic liquid, the inorganicsalt and water. In the case of solutions containing 1-octyl- or 1-decyl-3-methylimidazoliumchloride, the smaller magnitude of the salting-out effects is explained in terms of thepossibility of self-aggregation of the ionic liquid.