Sono- and photoelectrocatalytic processes for the removal of ionic liquids based on the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium cation.

In this work, sono- and photoelectrolysis of synthetic wastewaters polluted with the ionic liquids 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate (BmimAc) and chloride (BmimCl) were investigated with diamond anodes. The results were compared to those attained by enhancing bare electrolysis with irradiation by UV light or with the application of high-frequency ultrasound (US). Despite its complex heterocyclic structure, the Bmim+ cation was successfully depleted with the three technologies that were tested and was mainly transformed into four different organic intermediates, an inorganic nitrogen species and carbon dioxide. Regardless of the technology that was evaluated, removal of the heterocyclic ring is much less efficient (and much slower) than oxidation of the counter ion. In turn, the counter ion influences the rate of removal of the ionic liquid cation. Thus, the electrolysis and photoelectrolysis of BmimAc are much less efficient than sonoelectrolysis, but their differences become much less important in the case of BmimCl. In this later case, the most efficient technology is photoelectrolysis. This result is directly related to the generation of free radicals in the solution by irradiation of the electrochemical system with UV light, which contributes significantly to the removal of Bmim+.