A new solvent system: Hydrothermal molten salt

Thomas Voisin (1, 2, 3) , Arnaud Erriguible (2, 1) , Cyril Aymonier (1)

1 ICMCB - Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux
2 I2M - Institut de Mécanique et d'Ingénierie
3 ADEME - Agence de l'Environnement et de la Maîtrise de l'Energie

This work proposes a new solvent system composed of a molten salt in pressurized water, so-called hydrothermal molten salt (HyMoS). This system changes the paradigm of the solubility of inorganics in supercritical water. Using as an example NaOH, a low melting temperature salt, we show the possibility to precipitate it at a temperature above its melting one, leading to the instantaneous formation of the HyMoS. The molten salt is then capable of dissolving a large amount of inorganic salt, as exemplified with Na2SO4. This solvent system opens innovative ways with a potential to impact applications in many fields including materials synthesis, biomass conversion, recycling, green chemistry, catalysis, sustainable manufacturing and others. Beyond the impact on the hydrothermal community, this work also offers previously unexplored opportunities for the molten salt field with access to flow chemistry and insights regarding salt precipitation mechanism.

Domaines: Matériaux

Thomas Voisin, Arnaud Erriguible, Cyril Aymonier. A new solvent system: Hydrothermal molten salt. Science Advances , 2020, 6 (17), pp.eaaz7770. ⟨10.1126/sciadv.aaz7770⟩. ⟨hal-02613986⟩