Salting-out in aqueous solutions of ionic liquids and K3PO4:: Aqueous biphasic systems and salt precipitation

The salting-out effect produced by the addition of potassium phosphate, K3PO4 to aqueous solutions of water-miscible ionic liquids, viz. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethyl sulfate, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methyl sulfate, or 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ( alkyl = butyl, octyl or decyl) is investigated. The effects are analyzed using both the corresponding temperature-composition pseudo-binary and composition ternary phase diagrams. Different regions of liquid-liquid and solid-liquid phase demixing are mapped. The phase behavior is interpreted taking into account the complex and competing nature of the interactions between the ionic liquid, the inorganic salt and water. In the case of solutions containing 1-octyl- or 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, the smaller magnitude of the salting-out effects is explained in terms of the possibility of self-aggregation of the ionic liquid.