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Evaluation of thermal decomposition characteristics and potential hazards of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide by STA, ARC, and TG-FTIR

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Abstract

As a new solvent with a broad prospect, ionic liquids (ILs) are widely used in catalysis, organic synthesis, and electrochemistry due to their peculiar physical and chemical properties. Nonetheless, their safety issues are often overlooked. This paper aims to decode the thermal reaction and decomposition hazard characteristics of ILs with an innovative method. Initially, the results of the thermal stability study of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([BMIM]DCN) using non-isothermal thermogravimetric and adiabatic analysis show that the decomposition process of [BMIM]DCN can be divided into three stages. By employing the Flynn–Wall–Ozawa and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose methods, the apparent activation energy of decomposition was calculated and the stability of [BMIM]DCN was compared with structure-similar ILs (with the same imidazole cation). To predict the mechanism of [BMIM]DCN decomposition in the early stage, the products of the [BMIM]DCN under temperature-programmed conditions were analyzed by TG-FTIR, and a huge amount of toxic gases were detected in its decomposition products. In adiabatic tests, there is a sharp increase in pressure at about 382 °C, and the pressure of the system increases by about 12 times within 0.2 s. Furthermore, product analysis results show that the danger of the thermal decomposition of [BMIM]DCN is mainly due to the rapid pressure rise and toxicity caused by the massive gas products, such as HCN and NH3. The findings of this study can be used to develop thermal stability prediction models for similar ILs and provide the necessary foundation for the design and selection of precise processing methods and appropriate safety systems.

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Abbreviations

α :

Conversion degree (%)

β :

Heating rate (°C min–1)

A :

Pre-exponential factor (min–1)

E a :

Apparent activation energy (kJ mol–1)

g(α):

Integral form of mechanism function

k :

Rate constant (mol1–n Ln–1 s–1, n is reaction order)

M :

Molecular weight (g mol–1)

n :

Reaction order

P max :

Maximum pressure (bar)

R :

Universal gas constant (J mol–1 K–1)

R 2 :

Correlation coefficient (dimensionless)

T :

Temperature of sample (K)

T 0 :

Onset temperature (°C)

T p :

Peak temperature (K

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their appreciation to the Anhui Provincial Natural Science Foundation, China, for its financial support of this study under the contract number 1908085ME125.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemical Engineering, Anhui University of Science and Technology (AUST), 168, Taifeng St., Anhui, 232001, China

    Wen-Tao Wang, Shang-Hao Liu, Yang-Fan Cheng, Yin Wang & Chang-Fei Yu

  2. State Key Laboratory of Mining Response and Disaster Prevention and Control in Deep Coal Mines, AUST, 168, Taifeng St., Anhui, 232001, China

    Wen-Tao Wang & Shang-Hao Liu

Authors
  1. Wen-Tao Wang
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  2. Shang-Hao Liu
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  4. Yin Wang
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Contributions

W-T Wang was involved in the conceptualization, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, methodology—lead, software—equal, writing—original draft—equal, and writing—review and editing—lead. S-H Lin contributed to the funding acquisition, methodology, project administration, resources, supervision, and writing—review and editing—equal. Y-F Cheng contributed to the investigation—supporting, supervision—equal, methodology—equal, validation—supporting, writing—review and editing—supporting. Y Wang was involved in the methodology, software, and writing—review and editing—equal. C-F Yu was involved in the investigation, methodology, and resources—equal.

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Correspondence to Shang-Hao Liu.

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Wang, WT., Liu, SH., Cheng, YF. et al. Evaluation of thermal decomposition characteristics and potential hazards of 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide by STA, ARC, and TG-FTIR. J Therm Anal Calorim 147, 11127–11137 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11333-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10973-022-11333-4

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