Application of a phosphonium-based ionic liquid for reactive textile dye removal: Extraction study and toxicological evaluation

Textile dyeing processes are known for their negative environmental impacts due to the production of aqueous effluents containing toxic dyes. Therefore, new wastewater treatment processes need to be developed to treat such effluents, including Liquid-Liquid Extraction (LLE) process using Ionic Liquids (IL). This work aimed to evaluate the application of the hydrophobic IL trihexyltetradecylphosphonium decanoate to extract black, navy, and royal reactive dyes from water and evaluate the toxicological aspects of the resulting water stream. We investigated the effect of selected parameters, such as pH (2-12), temperature (20-50 degrees C), salt effects, dye concentration (0.5-50 mg/L), and phase volume ratio (900-9000) on the dye extraction. The results showed extraction yields as high as 97% for the three dyes and an extraction capacity of approximately 300 mg/g for black and navy dyes and 400 mg/g for royal. The toxicity tests involved Lactuca sativa, Triticum aestivium L, and Daphnia magna as bioindicators. The difference between the toxicity of the dye solutions before and after extraction was not statistically significant when L. sativa and Triticum aestivum L were used as bioindicators. However, the extracted solution showed increased toxicity towards D. magna due to traces of IL. Overall, the IL has a high extraction capacity for the black, navy, and royal dyes. Nevertheless, further studies on LLE associated with other processes must be carried out to reduce the risk linked to the toxicity of IL transferred to the water.

Automated summary

Textile dyeing processes generate aqueous effluents containing toxic dyes, which require new wastewater treatment processes. This study evaluated the use of an Ionic Liquid for Liquid-Liquid Extraction to extract and treat reactive dyes, showing high extraction yields for black, navy, and royal dyes. However, the extracted solution exhibited increased toxicity towards Daphnia magna due to traces of the Ionic Liquid. Further studies are needed to reduce the risk of toxicity transfer to water.