Ionic liquids continue to show promise - BASF

30 January 2008 01:59  [Source: ICIS news]

NEW ORLEANS (ICIS news)--Ionic liquids continue to show great promise in a variety of applications such as acid scavenging, metal processing, electronics and textile production, a BASF executive said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the four-day Informex custom chemicals manufacturer trade show, Matthias Maase, director of new business development at BASF’s intermediates department, outlined the properties of ionic liquids and their commercial applications.

Ionic liquids are salts that can remain liquid at relatively low temperatures. Unlike common table salt, which has a melting point of roughly 800C°, most ionic liquids have melting points of 100C° or less, Maase said.

Ionic liquids are also non-flammable, are often immiscible with organic molecules and has no vapour pressure, Maase said.

The academic world began looking into the potential uses for ionic liquids about 10 years ago. BASF then developed a process using ionic liquids to scavenge acids, Maase said.

One of the areas of promise for ionic liquids is their use to dissolve cellulosic materials in order to create fibres for the textile business. Maase said the textile industry presently uses carbonic sulfide to dissolve cellulosic materials, but the process creates a great deal of waste, he said.

Some 600,000 tonnes/year of carbon sulfide each year globally to replace the material used in dissolving cellulosic materials, Maase said.

Replacing carbon sulfide with ionic liquids could greatly reduce the amount of waste, Maase said, and reduce the amount of new material used to dissolve cellulosic material.

The Informex show continues through Friday and is expected to draw 4,000 attendees.

By: Brian Ford
+1 713 525 2653

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