Decomposition and removal of ionic liquid in aqueous solution by hydrothermal and photocatalytic treatment

We demonstrated a complete decomposition method for ionic liquids (ILs; organic cation part: butyl-methyl or ethyl-methyl imidazolium, and inorganic anion part: PF (6) (-) , BF4 (-) or Br-) in aqueous media by combining a hydrothermal mineralization method with a photocatalytic decomposition (PD) method. As a result, the hydrothermal treatment with Ca(OH)(2) mineralizer could effectively remove the inorganic anion part, such as PF6 (-) or BF4 (-) and the PD could decompose the organic cation part effectively. Therefore, the detoxification of ILs in aqueous media was accomplished by the present method.