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A new solvent system: Hydrothermal molten salt
T Voisin1,2,3, A Erriguible1,2, C Aymonier1
1CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux INP, ICMCB, UMR 5026, F-33600 Pessac, France.
Science Advances
|June 5, 2020
Summary
A novel hydrothermal molten salt (HyMoS) solvent system combines molten salts and pressurized water. This breakthrough enables enhanced inorganic salt solubility and opens new avenues in green chemistry and materials science.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science and Engineering
- Green Chemistry and Sustainable Manufacturing
- Chemical Engineering and Process Development
Background:
- Supercritical water is a challenging medium for dissolving many inorganic salts.
- Molten salts offer unique solvent properties but are typically used at high temperatures.
- Bridging hydrothermal and molten salt chemistry presents an underexplored frontier.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a new solvent system: hydrothermal molten salt (HyMoS).
- To demonstrate the HyMoS system's capability to dissolve inorganic salts.
- To explore the potential applications of HyMoS in various scientific and industrial fields.
Main Methods:
- Development of a solvent system by combining a molten salt (NaOH) with pressurized water.
- Investigation of inorganic salt (Na2SO4) solubility within the developed HyMoS system.
- Observation of salt precipitation and HyMoS formation above the salt's melting point.
Main Results:
- Successful formation of hydrothermal molten salt (HyMoS) by precipitating NaOH above its melting point in pressurized water.
- Demonstrated high solubility of inorganic salts, such as Na2SO4, within the HyMoS solvent.
- Established a new paradigm for inorganic solubility in supercritical water conditions.
Conclusions:
- The HyMoS system offers a novel approach to inorganic salt dissolution and processing.
- This solvent system has broad potential applications in materials synthesis, biomass conversion, recycling, and catalysis.
- HyMoS opens new opportunities for molten salt chemistry, including flow chemistry and precipitation mechanism studies.
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