Imidazolium-based ionic liquid confined into ordered mesoporous MCM-41 for efficient dehumidification

Composite sorbents with hygroscopic salts (like LiCl and CaCl2) impregnated porous matrixes obtained special attention in the past years, especially for solid desiccant dehumidification. However, the drawback of strong corrosivity limited their practical implementation. Alternatively, ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazole acetate) with less corrosivity is confined into ordered mesoporous MCM-41 to fabricate composite sorbent in this study, overcoming the poor mass transfer or limited adsorption capacity of single sorbent. Comprehensive characterizations including SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR and N2 adsorption prove that the ionic liquid is encapsulated in ordered channels of MCM-41. Sorption isotherms and kinetics indicate that the composite sorbent has superior water sorption performance (0.5 g/g at 20 °C/70 % RH), fast sorption rate under wide humidity range and potential of low temperature-driven regeneration. Moreover, the leakage test and corrosion experiment reveal that the composite sorbent has long-term stability and is corrosion-free to metal components. Further, the dehumidification performance using desiccant coated heat exchanger with reported composite sorbent is evaluated, showing 5 times higher dehumidification capacity than that of MCM-41 and 2 times higher than traditional silica gel (typical ARI summer, 35 °C, 40 % RH). This study identifies a feasible way of using ionic liquids to develop energy-efficient, safety-ensured and low-cost composite sorbents for water sorption-related applications.