Regeneration of [Bmim]BF4 ionic liquid by ozonation: hydrogen bond roles, synergistic effect, and DFT calculation

Double emulsion microencapsulation of ionic liquids for carbon capture

Microencapsulation of pristine core liquids in polymer shells has critical applications in thermal energy storage and management, targeted drug delivery, and carbon capture, among others. Herein, we report a novel encapsulation approach based on a double emulsion soft-template to produce microcapsules comprised of an ionic liquid (IL) core in a degradable polymer shell. We demonstrate the production of [IL-in-oil1]-in-oil2 (IL/O1/O2) double emulsions, in which the oil interphase (O1) contains a CO2-derived polycarbonate bearing vinyl pendant groups, tetrathiol small molecule crosslinker, and photoinitiator; upon irradiation of the double emulsion under low shear, thiol-ene crosslinking of the loaded species results in the formation of a robust shell around the pure IL droplets. The core-shell structures have enhanced physisorption for CO2 uptake compared to the bulk IL, which is consistent with the combined capacity of the IL/shell alone and demonstrates more rapid uptake due to an enhanced gas-liquid interface. This approach to microencapsulation of functional liquids offers researchers a distinct route to fabricate composite architectures with a pristine core for applications in separations, transport of cargo, and gas uptake.

Ionic liquid coupled plasma promotes acetic acid production during anaerobic fermentation of waste activated sludge: Breaking the restrictions of low bioavailable substrates and altering the metabolic activities of anaerobes

This study explored the potential application of plasma coupling ionic liquid on disintegration of waste activated sludge and enhanced production of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in anaerobic fermentation. Under optimal conditions (dosage of ionic liquid [Emim]OTf = 0.1 g/g VSS (volatile suspended solids) and discharge power of dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBD) = 75.2 W), the [Emim]OTf/DBD pretreatment increased SCFA production by 302 % and acetic acid ratio by 53 % compared to the control. Mechanistic investigations revealed that the [Emim]OTf/DBD combination motivated the generation of various reactive species (such as H2O2, O3, •OH, 1O2, ONOO-, and •O2-) and enhanced the utilization of physical energies (such as heat). The coupling effects of [Emim]OTf/DBD synergistically improved the disintegration of sludge and biodegradability of dissolved organic matter, promoting the sludge anaerobic fermentation process. Moreover, the [Emim]OTf/DBD pretreatment enriched hydrolysis and SCFAs-forming bacteria while inhibiting SCFAs-consuming bacteria. The net effect was pronounced expression of genes encoding key enzymes (such as alpha-glucosidase, endoglucanase, beta-glucosidase, l-lactate/D-lactate dehydrogenase, and butyrate kinase) involved in the SCFA-producing pathway, enhancing the production of SCFAs from sludge anaerobic fermentation. In addition, [Emim]OTf/DBD pretreatment facilitated sludge dewatering and heavy metal removal. Therefore, [Emim]OTf/DBD pretreatment is a promising approach to advancing sludge reduction, recyclability, and valuable resource recovery.

Advantages and drawbacks of life cycle assessment application to the pharmaceuticals: a short critical literature review

Pharmaceuticals are among the most challenging products to assess by life cycle assessment (LCA). The main drawback highlighted by LCA practitioners is the lack of inventory data, both regarding the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) precursors (upstream) and the details concerning the downstream phases (use and end of life). A short critical review of pharma-LCAs found in the literature is here proposed, with discussion of several tools and models used to predict the environmental impacts derived from the life cycle of pharmaceuticals, emphasizing current strengths and weaknesses, and exploring the possibilities for improvements. The case of antibiotics is selected as a representative class of pharmaceuticals, due to their massive use worldwide and the growing related issue of antimicrobial resistance enrichment, which is generally not included in most of LCAs. Also, we comment on drafting product category rules (PCRs) in the relevant field to develop standard methodologies and enhance the comparability of the studies, ultimately advocating collaboration with companies and improving inventory data quality and availability for the whole value chain of products.

Airlift two-phase partitioning bioreactor for dichloromethane removal: Silicone rubber stimulated biodegradation and its auto-circulation

Solid non-aqueous phases (NAPs), such as silicone rubber, have been used extensively to improve the removal of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, the removal of VOCs is difficult to be further improved because the poor understanding of the mass transfer and reaction processes. Further, the conventional reactors were either complicated or uneconomical. In view of this, herein, an airlift bioreactor with silicone rubber was designed and investigated for dichloromethane (DCM) treatment. The removal efficiency of Reactor 1 (with silicone rubber) was significantly higher than that of Reactor 2 (without silicone rubber), with corresponding higher chloride ion and CO₂ production. It was found that Reactor 1 achieved a much better DCM shock tolerance capability and biomass stability than Reactor 2. Silicone rubber not only enhanced the mass transfer in terms of both gas/liquid and gas/microbial phases, but also decreased the toxicity of DCM to microorganisms. Noteworthily, despite the identical inoculum used, the relative abundance of potential DCM-degrading bacteria in Reactor 1 (91.2%) was much higher than that in Reactor 2 (24.3%) at 216 h. Additionally, the silicone rubber could be automatically circulated in the airlift bioreactor due to the driven effect of the airflow, resulting in a significant reduction of energy consumption.

Novel Aggregation-Enhanced PEC Photosensitizer Based on Electrostatic Linkage of Ionic Liquid with Protoporphyrin IX for Ultrasensitive Detection of Molt-4 Cells

Nowadays, aggregation quenching of most organic photosensitizers in aqueous media seriously restricts analytical and biomedical applications of photoelectrochemical (PEC) sensors. In this work, an aggregation-enhanced PEC photosensitizer was prepared by electrostatically bonding protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) with an ionic liquid of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazole tetrafluoroborate ([BMIm][BF₄]), termed as PPIX-[BMIm] for clarity. The resultant PPIX-[BMIm] showed weak photocurrent in pure dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO, good solvent), while the PEC signals displayed a 44.1-fold enhancement in a water (poor solvent)/DMSO binary solvent with a water fraction (f_w) of 90%. Such PEC-enhanced mechanism was critically studied by electrochemistry and density functional theory (DFT) calculation in some detail. Afterward, a label-free PEC cytosensor was built for ultrasensitive bioassay of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (molt-4) cells by electrodepositing Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) on the PPIX-[BMIm] aggregates and sequential assembly of protein tyrosine kinase (PTK) aptamer DNA (aptDNA). The resultant cytosensor showed a wide linear range (300 to 3 × 10⁵ cells mL^-1) with a limit of detection (LOD) as low as 63 cells mL^-1. The aggregation-enhanced PEC performance offers a valuable and practical pathway for synthesis of advanced organic photosensitizer to explore its PEC applications in early diagnosis of tumors.

Self-Healable, Recyclable, and Ultrastrong Adhesive Ionogel for Multifunctional Strain Sensor

Flexible electronic materials have aroused significant interest due to the need for flexible electronics in a variety of applications. However, several obstacles such as low mechanical properties, interfacial adhesion problems, and nonreusability hinder their rapid development. Here, an ionogel was developed by a one-step photopolymerization of an ionic liquid (IL) with the C═C bond of 1-vinyl-3-butylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate in another ionic liquid solution of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate without a chemical cross-linker. The poly(ionic liquid) and the ionic liquid (PIL/IL) were highly compatible and resulted in an extremely uniform, stable, and optically transparent PIL/IL ionogel. In addition, this method also avoided complicated solvent replacement in the preparation processes of common ionogels. Our experimental and theoretical results showed that the reported ionogel integrated excellent mechanical properties, ultrastrong adhesive, self-healability, and recyclability. These remarkable advantages were benefited from the strong electrostatic force and other noncovalent bond interactions in the ionogel system. The unique ionogel presented in this study is therefore an ideal candidate material for self-adhesive and reusable wearable electronics.