Ionic Liquids as Green Solvents for the Treatment of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds Using Liquid Membranes

Abstract

Presence of endocrine disruptors in water and wastewater pose a serious threat to all living organisms. The removal of such disruptors is a major challenge especially most of the time they are present in trace amounts. Several technologies were tested to see if 100% removal can be achieved. Most of the existing technologies failed to achieve the target and have their own limitations. Membrane technology and especially liquid membrane technology has of late generated extreme interest among the researchers working with pollutants in trace amounts. In this work, experiments on three endocrine disruptors such as BPA, PCP and ES are carried out using supported ionic liquid membranes to see their removal efficiencies. The effects of various process parameters were studied to optimize them.