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Solvents

Solvents

A solvent is a substance, most often a liquid, that can dissolve other substances. Here, the substance being dissolved is called a solute. When a solvent and a solute combine, they form a solution - a homogenous mixture of both the solvent and the solute. Water is a universal biological solvent. Its polar structure allows it to dissolve many other polar compounds. The ability of water to dissolve is governed by a balance between water molecules binding to each other and binding to the solute.
A...

Entropy and Solvation

Entropy and Solvation

The process of surrounding a solute with solvent is called solvation. It involves evenly distributing the solute within the solvent. The rule of thumb for determining a solvent for a given compound is that like dissolves like. A good solvent has molecular characteristics similar to those of the compound to be dissolved. For example, polar solutions dissolve polar solutes, and apolar solvents dissolve apolar solutes. A polar solvent is a solvent that has a high dielectric constant (ϵ...

Enthalpy of Solution

Enthalpy of Solution

There are two criteria that favor, but do not guarantee, the spontaneous formation of a solution:

Aqueous Solutions and Heats of Hydration

Aqueous Solutions and Heats of Hydration

Water and other polar molecules are attracted to ions. The electrostatic attraction between an ion and a molecule with a dipole is called an ion-dipole attraction. These attractions play an important role in the dissolution of ionic compounds in water.
When ionic compounds dissolve in water, the ions in the solid separate and disperse uniformly throughout the solution because water molecules surround and solvate the ions, reducing the strong electrostatic forces between them. This process...

Solution Formation

Solution Formation

There is no one solvent that can dissolve every type of solute. Some substances that readily dissolve in a certain solvent might be insoluble in a different solvent. A simple way to predict which substances dissolve in which solvent is the phrase "like dissolves like". This means that polar substances, such as salt and sugar, dissolve in a polar substance like water. In contrast, non-polar substances are more soluble in non-polar solvents such as carbon tetrachloride.
This selective...

Solubility

Solubility

Solution, Solubility, and Solubility Equilibrium
A solution is a homogeneous mixture composed of a solvent, the major component, and a solute, the minor component. The physical state of a solution—solid, liquid, or gas—is typically the same as that of the solvent. Solute concentrations are often described with qualitative terms such as dilute (of relatively low concentration) and concentrated (of relatively high concentration).
In a solution, the solute particles (molecules,...

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A new solvent system: Hydrothermal molten salt.

T Voisin^1,2,3, A Erriguible^1,2, 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.

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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.