Dissolution and dispersion of coal in ionic liquids

In work reported here it is demonstrated that ionic liquids, ILs, can swell, partially solubilize and disperse coals as extremely fine particles to a remarkable and unprecedented extent, in some cases at room temperature. It appears that the network structure of coal is partly broken up in this process and a significant increase in solubility is obtained. In addition, the fragmented coals now make good contact with commercially obtained molybdenum disulfide micro-sized catalyst particles without the necessity of using organometallic precursors. This facilitates liquefaction and enhances liquefaction yields. Because ILs can be used to synthesize and stabilize various catalysts as nanoparticles, these solvents have considerable potential in coal liquefaction work.