Journal of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 17-20, 2004

ArticlesComparison of Diluent Characteristics of Imidazolium Hexafluorophosphate Ionic Liquidwith n-Dodecane
P. Giridhar, K. A. Venkatesan, T. G. Srinivasan, and P. R. Vasudeva Rao*
Fuel Chemistry Division, Chemical Group, Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam 603 102, India
Received: July 26, 2004; In Final Form: October 12, 2004
Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are emerging diluents in solvent extraction processes. Unusual extraction behavior was reported for the extraction of fission products and actinides, when ionic liquids were used asdiluents in place of customary diluents. In this report, some of the physical properties of the extractant that haveto be met for its use in industrial scale liquid-liquid extraction, such as density, solubility, viscosity, and phasedisengagement time were measured for TBP diluted in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate andcompared with the data on 1.1 M TBP/n-dodecane. The results indicate that the RTILs investigated unsuccessfully match n-dodecane in many of the characteristics and thus their practical use, as diluent, in reprocessing
seems to be questionable.

1. Introduction
Over the past ten years, ionic liquids (ILs) have emerged as
possible alternative to volatile organic compounds that areused as solvents in various synthetic and pharmaceutical industries, owing to their environmentally benign nature and potential for use in a variety of areas.1−3 Recently, room temperature
ionic liquids (RTILs) are gaining recognition in nuclear reprocessing industry, as well, due to their attractive extraction
properties and stability towards radiation.4−11 Since ionicliquids comprise only of ions, they have negligible volatility,
low flammability etc, which are the fundamental requirements
for the solvent or diluent in industrial solvent extraction
processes. Rogers and co-workers reported 7−9 the possible
application of ionic liquids as diluents for the separation offission products and actinides from nuclear wastes.
They have employed crown ether diluted with 1-butyl-3methylimidazolium hexaflurophosphate (bmimPF 6 ) ionicliquids7 for extracting 90Sr, 137Cs, or actinide specific extractants
diluted with bmim triflate imide ionic liquid for extracting fblock elements. 8, 9 They observed that, these extractants inconjunction with ILs displayed unusual extraction of target
metals from aqueous solution under conditions that gave negligible or meager extraction with customary diluents such as
chloroform or dodecane (DD). Chun et al. have studied10 the
structural variation in 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (amimPF6) ILs for investigating the variation in
selectivity of alkali metal ion extraction. It was found that byincreasing the chain length of alkyl group attached to the imidazole, the efficiency of extraction decreased but selectivity
increased. Recently12, 13 we have also studied the extraction of
uranium by TBP in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (bmimPF6). It was reported that bmimPF6 as such
extracts uranium and in contrast to the traditional extraction
behavior exhibited by TBP/DD, the distribution ratios ofuranium in 1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6 continued to increase even
above 5 M nitric acid. In addition, we have also investigated14
the extraction behavior by substituting octyl (omimPF6) insteadof butyl group in amimPF6. It was found that the distribution
ratios of uranium were similar in both the cases at all nitricacid concentrations. But, the solubility of omimPF6 in aqueous*Corresponding author. E-mail: vasu@igcar.ernet.in. FAX: +914114-280065.

nitric acid phase was lowered by a factor of 2 – 3 as comparedto bmimPF6 and the viscosity of solutions of TBP/omimPF6
was higher by ~2 fold as compared to TBP/bmimPF6 solutions.
While the investigation of ionic liquids as diluents for reprocessing has produced encouraging results, the possible chemical
and radiolytic degradation,6 mechanistic aspects of extraction15
are yet to be studied in detail. The major factor, which raises
concern over the use of IL, is the chemical stability in aqueous
medium. Various authors16−18 have studied the physicochemical
and thermodynamic properties of amimPF6. The solubility of
bmimPF6 in water has been reported to be 1.8 wt%. The solubility was found to decrease by lengthening alkyl chain attached
to imidazole or by replacing the anion9 with other bulkier anions(e.g. triflate imide). Nevertheless, the physical and chemical
properties of ionic liquids need to be investigated from thereprocessing point of view for meeting the qualities of diluent insolvent extraction processes when ILs are put into use.
This communication deals with some physical and chemical
properties of the TBP/amimPF6 that are essential for the qualifying as diluent in reprocessing. The properties such asorganic phase density, viscosity, phase disengagement time,and chemical degradation of amimPF6 and TBP/amimPF6 were
investigated. The results are compared with the data on
TBP/DD.
2. Experimental
Materials: All the chemicals and reagents used in this study
were of analytical grade. 1-Methylimidazole, 1-chlorobutane
and hexafluorophosphoric acid were procured from Lancaster,UK. 1-Chlorooctane and tri-n-butylphosphate were obtained
from E. Merck. 1-Methylimidazole was distilled before use
and other chemicals were used without any purification.
Preparation of ionic liquid. Ionic liquid, 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (alkyl = butyl or octyl) was prepared by the procedure described elsewhere. 19 Briefly, it
involves refluxing 1-methylimidazole with 1-chloroalkane followed by reacting the product with hexafluorophosphoric acid.
Density and viscosity measurements. All the equilibration
experiments were carried out at 298 K, in 1:1 phase ratio, unlessotherwise mentioned. Ten milliliters of 1.1 M TBP/amimPF6
was equilibrated with equal volume of aqueous phase ofdesired nitric acid concentration ranging from 0.1 to 8 M.
After 10 minutes of vigorous shaking, the equilibration tube

© 2004 The Japan Society of Nuclear and Radiochemical Sciences
Published on Web 11/11/2004

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J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 5, No. 2, 2004

Giridharcontaining the phases was centrifuged. The organic/aqueousdensity was determined by transferring the organic/aqueous
phase into 5 mL specific density bottle and measuring its
weight using an electronic balance. The amount of water dissolved in ionic liquid phase was measured by Karl-Fischer
titration. The viscosity of organic phase was measured using
Brookfield viscometer (model D-II +) with a small sample
adapter.
Phase disengagement. Phase disengagement time (PDT)
was taken as the time taken for the disappearance of all the dispersed primary globules at the interface formed after a vigorous shaking of organic and aqueous phases. Typically, 5 mLof 1.1 M TBP/amimPF6 was shaken vigorously with 5 mL ofaqueous phase containing desired concentration of nitric acidranging from 0.1 M to 8 M, in a 10 mm inner diameter, 20 mL
stoppered test tube. The two phases were allowed to disengage
and the time was measured using a stop-watch of 0.01 sec resolution.
Solubility of ionic liquids. The solubility of amimPF6 in nitricacid phase was determined when neat amimPF6 as well as 1.1 M
TBP solutions in amimPF6 were contacted with nitric acid solution of desired concentration ranging from 0.01 M to 8 M. The
experiment involved vigorous shaking of 1 g of organic phasewith 1 mL of desired aqueous phase. At various intervals of
time, the shaking was stopped. The concentration of ionic liquid
in nitric acid phase was determined by measuring the absorbanceof imidazolium cation present in the aqueous phase after appropriate dilution at the λmax of 289 nm using diluted nitric acid asreference. Base-line correction was performed with appropriately diluted nitric acid. The concentration of amim+ cation in the
aqueous phase was calculated with the use of calibration plot
obtained by measuring the absorbance of bmimCl (0.01 – 0.6 M
prepared in water) and omimCl (0.01 – 0.2 M prepared in water)
at the λmax of 289 nm using water as reference. The molar
absortivity of 2.2 L mol−1 cm−1 for bmimCl obtained by us is ingood agreement with the value (2.2 L mol−1 cm−1) reported by
Visser et al.7 and the molar absortivity for omimCl was found to
be 7.8 L mol−1 cm−1. Using this, the concentration of amimPF6
dissolved into the aqueous phase was calculated. The concentration of phosphorous in the aqueous phase was determinedby amidol method20 after digesting an aqueous aliquot withperchloric acid.
3. Results and Discussion
Figure 1 represents the variation of organic phase density of
1.1 M TBP/amimPF6 with initial concentration of nitric acid. It
can be seen that the density of 1.1 M TBP/omimPF6 decreased
from 1.15 g/mL to 1.12 g/mL when the concentration of nitricacid was varied from 0.1 to 1 M and the decrease was not significant above 1M. Similarly the density of 1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6
decreased from 1.25 g/mL to 1.20 g/mL when the concentra-tion of nitric acid was varied from 0.1 M to 8 M. Contrary tothis, in 1.1TBP/kerosene system,21, 22 the density of organic
phase was reported to increase from 0.8418 g/mL to 0.8601
g/mL, when the concentration of nitric acid was increased
from 0.1 M to 3.0 M. It should be noted from Figure 1 that thedensities of 1.1 M TBP/omimPF6 and aqueous phase intersect
at the initial nitric acid concentration of 4.1 M and thus thephase reversal is observed above 4.1 M. Similarly for 1.1 M
TBP/bmimPF 6 phase, the phase reversal occurs at the laterstage, i.e. at 7.1 M, since the initial density of organic phase ishigher than 1.1 M TBP/omimPF6. The occurrence of phasereversal is the major limiting factor for the application of ionicliquid in counter-current liquid-liquid extraction process.
Mixer settler and pulse columns are designed with the assumption that the organic phase remains either on top or bottom
phase all the time depending upon the density of aqueous
phase. The decrease of density of organic phase with increasein the nitric acid concentration could be attributed to the extraction of water by the organic phase. Karl Fischer titration oforganic phase indicated that nearly ~2 wt% and ~3.5 wt% ofwater was respectively extracted by 1.1 M TBP/omimPF6 and1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6 phases at all nitric acid concentrations.
The viscosity of organic phase as a function of initial concentration of nitric acid is shown in Figure 2. It is apparent thatviscosity decreases remarkably from 76 cP to 35 cP in the caseof 1.1 M TBP/omimPF6 when equilibrium aqueous nitric acidconcentration is varied from 0.1 M to 8.0 M. But in 1.1 M TBP/
bmimPF6 since the viscosity of water free 1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6(85 cP at 298 K) is lower compared to 1.1 M TBP/omimPF 6(115 cP at 298 K), the variation is not much and it remains at~36 cP at all concentrations of nitric acid. The presence ofwater in the organic phase seems to hydrate the ions and reduces
the tendency of the ionic liquid species from aggregation, which
results in lowering the viscosity of organic phase.23 In 1.1 M
TBP/DD the viscosity was reported21, 22 to decrease marginallyfrom 3.95 cP to 2.51 cP when the nitric acid concentration wasvaried from 0.1 M to 3.0 M.
Figure 3 shows PDT as a function of concentration of nitricacid. PDT is the time taken for the disappearance of all thedispersed primary globules at the interface formed during
vigorous shaking. Rogoz and Kulawik24 have reported for
TBP-CCl4 system, that PDT increased with increasing aqueous
phase nitric acid concentration, but it decreased for paraffin andaromatic diluents. PDT was reported to vary from 30 – 70 s for
TBP-HNO3 system depending upon the concentration of nitricacid and choice of various diluents. From Figure 3 it can beobserved that PDT for 1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6 increases withincrease in the equilibrium concentration of nitric acid.
However, for TBP/omimPF6, PDT increases gradually andreaches a maximum at the nitric acid concentration of 5.8 M
followed by a decrease. When PDT was plotted against thedifference in the densities of organic and aqueous phases, as

1.25
1.20
1.15
1.10
1.05

1.1 M TBP/omimPF6
1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6[HNO3]eqm

1.00
0.95

1.1 M TBP/kerosene[Refs. 21 and 22]

0.90
0.85
0

2

4

6

8

[HNO3]ini /MFigure 1. Variation in the density of organic and aqueous phases withinitial concentration of nitric acid.

Viscosity of organic phase /cP

Density at 298 K /g/mL

1.30
80
70
1.1 M TBP/omimPF6
1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6

60
50

1.1 M TBP/omimPF6 dried =115 cP at 298 K
1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6 dried = 85 cP at 298 K

40
30
20
0

2

4

6

8

[HNO3]ini /MFigure 2. Variation of viscosity of organic phase with initial concentration of nitric acid at 298 K.

J. Nucl. Radiochem. Sci., Vol. 5, No. 2, 2004

Comparison of diluent characteristics
amimPF6 in aqueous phase /wt%

Disengagement time /s

160

1.1 M TBP/omimPF6

140

1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6

120
100
80
60
40
20

0

2

4

6

8

25

1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6
bmimPF6
1.1 M TBP/omimPF6
omimPF6

20

15

10

5

0

0

Figure 3. Variation of phase disengagement time with initial concentration of nitric acid.

Disengagement time /s

160

8M

1.1 M TBP/omimPF6
1.1 M TBP/bmimPF6

120

298 K

100

60
40

6M

6M

80

3M

3M

8M

1M

0.1 M

20
-0.10

-0.05

0.00

0.05

0.10

0.15

1M

0.1 M

0.20

2

4

6

8

[HNO3] /M[HNO3]ini /M

140

19

0.25

ρorg - ρaq /g/mL

Figure 4. Variation in the difference of density of phases with disengagement time.

shown in Figure 4, it is evident that PDT approaches the
maximum value when the |ρorg – ρaq | → zero. Thus, when thedensities of organic and aqueous phases are similar, the timerequired for the disengagement is found to be longer as
expected. However, apart from density, other factors such as
interfacial surface tension of organic phase need to be taken
into account for obtaining a good understanding of PDT.
Figure 5 shows the solubility of ionic liquid as a function ofconcentration of nitric acid. Measurement of solubility either
by phosphorous analysis or absorbance of imidazolium cation
gave identical result. The solubility of bmimPF6 and omimPF6
in 0.01 M nitric acid were found to be 1.9 wt% and 0.9 wt%
respectively, which are in close agreement with the reported16−18
solubilities in water (2 wt% for bmimPF6 and 0.7 wt% for
omimPF6). Solubility of both amimPF6 ionic liquids increases
with increase in the concentration of nitric acid and the presence of TBP in amimPF 6 enhanced the solubility of ionicliquid. It is noted that the solubility of omimPF6 is lower by
2-3 times depending upon [HNO3] as compared to bmimPF6.
Solubility of amimPF6 in nitric acid media is a critical limiting
factor for its application in reprocessing since the dissolved
PF6− ion would react with nitric acid leading ultimately to theformation of phosphoric acid.8 Actinides form stable complex
with phosphoric acid in aqueous phase and this would significantly affect the extraction and stripping behavior of actinides.
4. Conclusions
Physical properties of 1.1 M TBP diluted with non-traditional
diluent 1-alkyl-3-methylimdazolium hexafluorophosphate,namely density, viscosity, PDT, and solubility in aqueous phase,
have been reported in this communication. PDT of 1.1 M
TBP/amimPF6 is the only property which was found to becomparable with that of 1.1 M TBP/DD. Significant solubility

Figure 5. Comparison of ionic liquid solubility in aqueous phase atvarious nitric acid concentrations at 298 K.

of imidazolium hexafluorophosphate ILs in aqueous phase andphase reversal are very crucial limiting factors for their applicability in reprocessing. Increase in the length of the alkyl
group attached to the imidazolium cation of IL decreases thesolubility. However, in this case, there is still the limitation ofearly phase reversal and increased viscosity of organic phase.
The studies carried out so far seem to indicate that the imidazolium hexafluorphosphate based RTILs poorly match n-dodecane as diluent from the reprocessing point of view and thus
their applicability seems to be very limited.
However, ionic liquids have inscribed a beginning in reprocessing. Since the tunability, low volatility and incredible
extraction characteristics of RTILs are very promising andgoing by the extensive research being carried out all over theworld in recent years, it might yet be possible to discover otherkind of ionic liquids that can have matching or even better
properties than the conventional diluents.
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