Omega-3 poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) particularly eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), have many health benefits including reducing the risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Recently, the use of ionic liquids (ILs) in lipid extraction from microalgae provides the potential to overcome common drawbacks, offers several other benefits. To date, very limited researches are available to focus on extracting microalgae lipid and PUFA in particular by using ILs. The objective of current work is to screen the potential ILs that can be applied in EPA extraction. In this study, fast ILs screening was performed with the help of a conductor like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) and the ILs with higher capacity values for use in extraction of EPA were compared. According to the results, the highest capacity for EPA extraction among 352 screened cation/anion combinations belongs to [TMAm][SO₄]. It is expected to achieve a higher yield of EPA once applying this combination as the solvent in the process of extraction. ILs with small anions were observed to have higher capacities, as well possessing higher charge density compared to larger ones, and therefore, they are more preferable for extraction purposes. Moreover, shorter alkyl chain cations are preferred when using imidazolium-based IL, which agrees with experimental data.

Ionic liquids, which are classified as new solvents, have been identified to be potential solvents in the application of CO₂ capture. In this work, six ammonium-based protic ionic liquids, containing ethanolammonium [EtOHA], tributylammonium [TBA], bis(2-ethylhexyl)ammonium [BEHA] cations, and acetate [AC] and butyrate [BA] anions, were synthesized and characterized. The thermophysical properties of the ammonium-based protic ionic liquids were measured. Density, ρ, and dynamic viscosity, η, were determined at temperatures between 293.15 K and 363.15 K. The density and viscosity values were correlated using empirical correlations and the thermal coefficient expansion, α_p, and molecular volume, V_m, were estimated using density values. The thermal stability of the ammonium-based protic ionic liquids was investigated using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) at a heating rate of 10 °C·min^‒1. The CO₂ absorption of the ammonium-based ionic liquids were measured up to 20 bar at 298.15 K. From the experimental results, [BEHA][BA] had the highest affinity towards CO₂ with the mol fraction of CO₂ absorbed approaching 0.5 at 20 bar. Generally, ionic liquids with butyrate anions have better CO₂ absorption than that of acetate anions while [BEHA] ionic liquids have higher affinity towards CO₂ followed by [TBA] and [EtOHA] ionic liquids.

This study performs a screening of potential Ionic Liquids (ILs) for the extraction of Docosahexaenoic Acid (DHA) compounds by the calculation of capacity values. For this purpose, a Conductor-Like Screening Model for Real Solvents (COSMO-RS) was employed to study the molecular structures of the ILs, and therefore, predict their extraction potential. The capacity values of 22 anions combined with 16 cations based ILs, were investigated to evaluate the effectiveness of ILs in the extraction of DHA. It was found that among the investigated ILs, a combination of tetramethyl ammonium with SO₄ or Cl was the best fit for DHA extraction, followed by pyrrolidinium, imidazolium, pyridinium and piperidinium. Furthermore, it was observed that the extraction capacity and the selectivity of ILs decreased with an increase in alkyl chain length; therefore, ethyl chain-ILs, with the shortest chain lengths, were found to be most suitable for DHA extraction. The predicted results were validated through the experimentally calculated extraction yield of a DHA compound from Nannochloropsis sp. Microalgae. Five selected ILs, namely [EMIM][Cl], [BMIM][Cl], [TMAm][Cl], [EMPyr][Br] and [EMPyrro][Br], were selected from COSMO-RS for empirical extraction purposes, and the validation results pinpointed the good prediction capabilities of COSMO-RS. The findings in this study can simplify the process of selecting suitable ILs for DHA extraction and reduce the number of required empirical evaluations.

The present work reports the extraction of phenolic compounds from Polygonum minus using ionic liquid as extracting solvent. In this work, 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate [BMIM][HSO₄] was used for the extraction of bioactive compounds. Accordingly, ionic liquids based microwave-assisted extraction treatment for separating of bioactive compounds from polygonum minus was first performed in the present study. The results obtained in this work have high extraction yield in comparison with conventional solvent. UV/Vis results showed that microwave synthesis was fast, well dispersed and nanosized copper nanoparticle (CuNPs) in comparison with conventional synthesis. CuNPs was characterised by X-Rays diffractometer (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), dynamic light scattering (DLS), field emission scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-rays (FESEM-EDX), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All the instrumental analyses confirmed the particles were nanosized. Furthermore, the antibacterial activity of as-synthesised CuNPs showed effective inhibitory zone against three different bacteria. The photocatalytic degradation of copper nanoparticles was studied using methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO) dyes under UV light and degraded 99.9% within short time 8 and 7 min. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

A nanocellulose-based adsorbent was successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal process. It was characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, Field Emission Electron Microscopy and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller surface area analysis. Photocatalysis has the best potential to replace the conventional wastewater treatment technology through the photodegradation of organic contaminants. This study focuses on the preparation of a photocatalytic adsorbent of nanocellulose prepared from sago waste for the removal of diclofenac from industrial wastewater. Its photocatalytic activity was evaluated through the degradation of diclofenac (100 mg/L) under ultraviolet (UV) light. The effect of different loadings of TiO₂ and kinetics on the photocatalytic activity was investigated. To study its removal, the experiments were carried out under UV light with different contact times ranging from 30 to 120 min at room temperature. The maximum removal percentage was found to be 57.5% for 200 µL of TiO₂, and this increased up to 82.4% for 800 µL of TiO₂. The maximum removal capacity was found to be 13.3 mg/g. The kinetics was well fitted with “pseudo-first order model” (PSO). Kinetic analysis using the PSO model at 100 ppm of diclofenac sodium gave a value of equilibrium adsorption capacity, qe of 13.52 mg/g. The adsorption kinetics gave a value of calculated equilibrium adsorption capacity, qe of 13.52 mg/g using different non-linear regression plots. It obeyed a pseudo-first-order reaction with the lowest AICc, RSME values of 0.56 and 0.53 and the highest correlation coefficient, R², of 0.99. Three kinetics models were fitted for the current adsorption kinetics data, and their suitability was inferred as the following: pseudo-first-order > pseudo-second-order > Langmuir–Hinshelwood.