Greener Terpene-Terpene Eutectic Mixtures as Hydrophobic Solvents

Author(s)

Martins, Monia A. R. ^{[1, 2, 3]} ; Silva, Liliana P. ^[2] ; Schaeffer, Nicolas ^[2] ; Abranches, Dinis O. ^[2] ; Maximo, Guilherme J. ^[4] ; Pinho, Simao P. ^{[1, 3]} ; Coutinho, Joao A. P. ^[2]

Affiliation

^[1] Polytech Inst Braganca, Mt Res Ctr CIMO, P-5301855 Braganca - Portugal

^[2] Univ Aveiro, CICECO Aveiro Inst Mat, Dept Chem, P-3810193 Aveiro - Portugal

^[3] Polytech Inst Braganca, Associate Lab LSRE LCM, Dept Chem & Biol Technol, P-5300253 Braganca - Portugal

^[4] Univ Estadual Campinas, Fac Food Engn, BR-13083862 Campinas, SP - Brazil

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING; v. 7, n. 20, p. 17414-17423, OCT 21 2019.
• Web of Science Citations: 0

Abstract

Natural products can be the basis for the development of green solvents, relevant for the advancement of new, more sustainable processes and products. In this work, 10 binary mixtures constituted by terpenes are prepared and characterized. Their solid-liquid phase diagrams show that room-temperature solvents can be prepared from solid terpenes in a wide composition range. These diagrams are accurately described by the conductor-like screening model for real solvents, showing it to be a useful predictive tool for the design of novel natural solvents. At the eutectic point, these mixtures possess low viscosities, densities lower than water, and high boiling temperatures. The low water solubility in the eutectic solvents together with its negligible impact on the properties measured is a strong indicator of the hydrophobic character of these mixtures. The tunable character of these mixtures is demonstrated by studying the solvatochromic parameters in the entire concentration region, the properties of the final solvents being tuned by simply varying the mole fraction of the terpenes. The high potential of this tunable character is shown in the selective extraction of dyes from their aqueous solutions. This work is expected to devise new insights concerning these solvents as well as to boost their application in green industrial processes. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 14/21252-0 - Equilibrium and production processes of biofuels and bioproducts
• Grantee: Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles
• Support Opportunities: Research Projects - Thematic Grants
• FAPESP's process: 16/08566-1 - Phase equilibrium thermodynamics for the improvement of physical properties of food bioproducts and their prediction in industrial and digestive processes
• Grantee: Guilherme José Maximo
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants