Ionic liquid-based dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction of succinic acid from aqueous streams: COSMO-RS screening and experimental verification

ABSTRACT

In the present investigation, a total of 108 combinations of ionic liquids (ILs) were screened using the conductor-like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) with the aid of six cations and eighteen anions for the extraction of succinic acid (SA) from aqueous streams through dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME). Using the screened ILs, an ionic liquid-based DLLME (IL-DLLME) was developed to extract SA and the role of different reaction parameters in the effectiveness of IL-DLLME approach was investigated. COSMO-RS results suggested that, quaternary ammonium and choline cations form effective IL combinations with [OH¯], [F¯], and [SO₄²¯] anions due to hydrogen bonding. In view of these results, one of the screened ILs, tetramethylammonium hydroxide [TMAm][OH] was chosen as the extractant in IL-DLLME process and acetonitrile was adopted as the dispersive solvent. The highest SA removal efficiency of 97.8% was achieved using 25 μL of IL [TMAm][OH] as a carrier and 500 μL of acetonitrile as dispersive solvent. The highest amount of SA was extracted with a stir time of 20 min at 300 rpm, followed by centrifugation for 5 min at 4500 rpm. Overall, the findings showed that IL-DLLME is efficient in extracting succinic acid from aqueous environments while adhering to the first-order kinetics.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• COSMO-RS
• succinic acid
• microextraction
• dispersion
• ionic liquids

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by Y-UTP grant, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia. grant (015LC0-426) from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Malaysia.