ABSTRACT
The kinetics and mechanism of formic acid sonochemical degradation were studied at ultrasonic frequencies of 20, 200, and 607 kHz under argon atmosphere. Total yield of HCOOH sonochemical degradation increases approximately 6-8-fold when the frequency increased from 20 to 200 or to 607 kHz. At low ultrasonic frequencies, HCOOH degradation has been attributed to oxidation with OH(â¢) radicals from water sonolysis and to the HCOOH decarboxylation occurring at the cavitation bubble-liquid interface. With high-frequency ultrasound, the sonochemical reaction is also influenced by HCOOH dehydration. Whatever the ultrasonic frequency, the sonolysis of HCOOH yielded H(2) and CO(2) in the gas phase as well as trace amounts of oxalic acid and formaldehyde in the liquid phase. However, CO and CH(4) formations were only detected under high-frequency ultrasound. The most striking difference between low-frequency and high-frequency ultrasound is that the sonolysis of HCOOH at high ultrasonic frequencies initiates Fischer-Tropsch hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.
ABSTRACT
The present work deals with the hydrodynamic behavior of several room-temperature ionic liquids presenting the same bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyles)imide anion, associated with four different cations: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium, 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium, N-trimethyl-N-propylammonium and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium cations. Steady state voltammetry was used as an electrochemical technique to characterize mass transfer in both silent and sonicated conditions, using a rotating disk electrode. Results obtained in RTILs media are compared to those acquired in synthetic solutions of controlled viscosity, in order to develop a better understanding of the phenomena involved in such media.
ABSTRACT
A microsonoreactor, specially designed to carry out electrochemical tests in a room-temperature ionic liquid medium (RTIL), was studied. The cell, based on a particular design consisting of off-setting the ultrasonic probe out of the reaction volume, was characterized by several methods such as calorimetry, dosimetry and mass transfer measurements. The main result concerns the specific behaviour of the ionic liquid under ultrasonic irradiation. For example, the mass-transfer enhancement is particularly high, characterized by an average Sherwood number of 6500 while the value obtained with an electrode rotating at 4500 rpm is only 1200.
ABSTRACT
The stability of the ionic liquid [MeBu3N][Tf2N], dry or after contact with water (where [MeBu3N]+ is the methyltributylammonium cation and [Tf2N](-) is the bistriflimide anion), was studied under 137Cs gamma irradiation in argon and in air. In a quantitative study with an absorbed dose of 2 MGy this ionic liquid was highly stable regardless of the radiolysis conditions. The radiolytic disappearance yields determined by ESI-MS were -0.38 and -0.25 micromol J(-1) for the cation and anion, respectively. ESI-MS, NMR, and liquid chromatography coupled with ESI-MS identified a large number of degradation products in very small quantities for the same dose. The cation radicals were formed by the loss of a Bu group, the Me group, or two H atoms to form a double bond with the butyl chain. Radiolysis of the anion produced mainly F and CF3 radicals. The anion radicals recombined with the cation to form a wide range of secondary degradation products regardless of the radiolysis conditions.