8 Commercial Production of Ionic Liquids
193
II. “Life-Cycle-Costing”: Are the costs for the complete lifetime of a technology
lower?
This question is of interest if processes are involved. Can the operating costs for
a process combined with energy savings and/or lower disposal costs, and so forth,
justify higher costs for the ionic liquid?
III. Regulatory issues: Can your technology replace a risky or hazardous
process?
The search for novel compounds can become important because of regulatory issues.
Well-known examples include replacements for perfluorooctylsulfonic acid and its
derivatives or replacing metals, such as cadmium or chromium. In some cases, there
are exemptions if a more environmentally friendly and/or less toxic solution does
not exist.
IV. Would you be willing to pay the price for this novel technology?
Put yourself in the user’s shoes and ask if it is worth it to pay the price for your
technology. It can be beneficial to convince people in your own personal environment
first. If you can answer at least one of these questions with “yes,” then you should
proceed!
8.1.3 The Aspect of Ionic Liquids as “Green Solvents”:
Toxicity and Environmental Impact
Originally, ionic liquids were often called “green solvents,” namely because of their
low volatility. Since in principle, a broad variety of organic and inorganic materials
can be combined, this label is of course problematic. In fact, some ionic liquids can
be green, but some of them can be toxic or nonbiodegradable or even persistent and
bio-accumulative. As a consequence, each ionic liquid has to undergo the regionspecific test protocols as soon as it becomes a commercial product (e.g., REACH is
the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction
of Chemicals aimed at protecting human health and the environment).
Unfortunately, the assumption that the combination of a cation, which is known
to be nontoxic in one compound, with an anion, which is known to be nontoxic in
another compound, necessarily yields a nontoxic compound is not valid. Thus, each
novel combination of cation and anion must be tested separately.
193
II. “Life-Cycle-Costing”: Are the costs for the complete lifetime of a technology
lower?
This question is of interest if processes are involved. Can the operating costs for
a process combined with energy savings and/or lower disposal costs, and so forth,
justify higher costs for the ionic liquid?
III. Regulatory issues: Can your technology replace a risky or hazardous
process?
The search for novel compounds can become important because of regulatory issues.
Well-known examples include replacements for perfluorooctylsulfonic acid and its
derivatives or replacing metals, such as cadmium or chromium. In some cases, there
are exemptions if a more environmentally friendly and/or less toxic solution does
not exist.
IV. Would you be willing to pay the price for this novel technology?
Put yourself in the user’s shoes and ask if it is worth it to pay the price for your
technology. It can be beneficial to convince people in your own personal environment
first. If you can answer at least one of these questions with “yes,” then you should
proceed!
8.1.3 The Aspect of Ionic Liquids as “Green Solvents”:
Toxicity and Environmental Impact
Originally, ionic liquids were often called “green solvents,” namely because of their
low volatility. Since in principle, a broad variety of organic and inorganic materials
can be combined, this label is of course problematic. In fact, some ionic liquids can
be green, but some of them can be toxic or nonbiodegradable or even persistent and
bio-accumulative. As a consequence, each ionic liquid has to undergo the regionspecific test protocols as soon as it becomes a commercial product (e.g., REACH is
the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization, and Restriction
of Chemicals aimed at protecting human health and the environment).
Unfortunately, the assumption that the combination of a cation, which is known
to be nontoxic in one compound, with an anion, which is known to be nontoxic in
another compound, necessarily yields a nontoxic compound is not valid. Thus, each
novel combination of cation and anion must be tested separately.