abstract
Aqueous biphasic systems (ABS) are relevant for the development of environmentally friendly and "bio-compatible" separation processes. However, the common polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymers present a limited range of applicability, due to the low polarity of the PEG-rich phase. To overcome this limitation, a new approach was recently proposed based on the use of ionic liquids (ILs) as adjuvants in ABS, enlarging the polarity range of these systems. This work addresses the use of imidazolium-based ILs as ionic adjuvant compounds in the formation of ABS, namely potassium salts + water + PEG (1500, 4000, 6000 and 8000). To explore the differences induced by the presence of the IL as adjuvant the partition behavior of two dyes, Chloranilic Acid and Rhodamine 6G, is analyzed and correlated with the phase behavior and the IL distribution on the ABS under study. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
keywords
AQUEOUS BIPHASIC SYSTEMS; 2-PHASE SYSTEMS; SELF-AGGREGATION; POLYETHYLENE-GLYCOL; CONTROLLED PH; SALT; PURIFICATION; PARTITION; PROTEIN; CATION
subject category
Thermodynamics; Chemistry; Engineering
authors
de Souza, RL; Campos, VC; Ventura, SPM; Soares, CMF; Coutinho, JAP; Lima, AS
our authors
Sónia Patrícia Marques Ventura
Assistant Professoracknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support of FAPITEC, CAPES and CNPq under the project CNPq-Universal 482018/2011-9 and also the financial support from FEDER funds through the program COMPETE and by national fund through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) CICECO - FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-037271 under the scope of the project Pest-C/CTM/LA0011/2013. The authors also thank financial support through the post-doctoral grant SFRH/BPD/79263/2011 of S.P.M. Ventura, doctoral grant R.L. Souza and PROBIC/UNIT for the scholarship for V.C. Campos.