Polymeric Chemisorbents for Organic Acid Recovery from Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The high cost of recovering succinic acid (SA) from fermentation media during bioproduction makes it difficult for bioproduced SA to compete with petrochemically-derived SA. Two new polymeric sorbents and multiple recovery methods that have the potential to reduce bioproduction costs are examined. The first sorbent is a polyionic liquid (PIL) with a bicarbonate salt of poly(1-vinyl-3-dodecylimidazolium bicarbonate). The second sorbent is a smart hydrogel consisting of N,N-dimethylaminoethylacrylamide (DMEA) and tris[2-(acryloylamino)ethyl]amine (TAAEA). Both sorbents successfully chemisorb succinic acid from dilute aqueous solution with efficiencies that are competitive to polymeric chemisorbents that are reported in literature. Novel recovery methods that are more environmentally conscious than traditional methods are tested, such as the use of saturated NaHCO3 or saturated H2CO3 solutions on the PIL, or the use of a strain-sensitive smart recovery on the hydrogel. The saturated NaHCO3 recovery and the smart recovery are both effective at concentrating succinic acid from dilute aqueous solution with high recovery yields. These recovery methods simultaneously desorb succinic acid and regenerate the basic PIL. These recovery methods are competitive to traditional organic acid recoveries such as recovery by alkaline salt and other recoveries that are reported in literature.