Influence of organic solvent on the separation of an ionic liquid from a lignin-ionic liquid mixture.

Sixteen solvents added in lignin-ionic liquid mixture provide four types of solubility characteristics. The distinct characteristics can be classified by considering solubility parameters including ET Scale, Kamlet-Taft parameters and solubility parameters. Group 1 solvent shows promising solvents for lignin-ionic liquid separation, contributing full dissolution of ionic liquid with lignin precipitation. Isopropanol, the most potential solvent has solubility properties as following normalized molar electronic transition energies (ET(N))=0.57, hydrogen-bond acidity (α)=0.76 and Hildebrand solubility parameter (δT)=23.58. This study examines potential solvents for ionic recovery, provides simple method of separation and leads to the feasibility of using ionic liquids in industrial applications.