Solubility of CO2 and N2O in an Imidazolium-Based Lipidic Ionic Liquid

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids have been extensively studied for their ability to dissolve a wide variety of gases and for their potential to be used as separation agents in industrial processes. For many short chain 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bistriflimde salts, CO2 and N2O solublities are very similar. In this work, the solubility of CO2 and N2O has been measured in the lipidic ionic liquid 1-methyl-3-(Z-octadec-9-enyl)imidazolium bistriflimide ([oleyl-mim] [NTf2]) at 298 K, 310 and 323 K up to similar to 2 MPa. N2O was found to have higher solubility than CO2 under the same conditions, similar to the behavior observed when olive oil, a natural lipid, was the liquid solvent. However, the solubility of each gas on a mole fraction basis is lower in the ionic liquid than in olive oil. Comparison of the gas solubilities on a mass fraction basis demonstrates that CO2 solubility is nearly identical in both liquids; N2O solubility is higher than CO2 for both liquids, but more so in the olive oil. The difference is attributed to the high mass fraction of the olive oil that is lipid-like in character. The differential solubility of N2O/CO2 in this ionic liquid, in contrast to that of shorter chain 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bistriflimide salts, gives physical insight into the solvent properties of this class of ionic liquids and provides further support for their lipid-like character.