An Insight into Green Microwave-Assisted Techniques: Degradation and Microextraction

Abstract

This chapter discusses the applications reported on using microwave (MW) irradiation, particularly those involving their environmental use for improving the degradation efficiency of pollutants in water and wastewaters. It focuses on the different types of microextraction assisted by MW. The chapter offers a summary of the number of publications found in the literature devoted to MW-assisted degradation and microextraction. It describes the use of MW irradiation for enhancing the degradation of different organic pollutants and the yields in microextraction methods. Dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction technique was developed by M. Rezaee et al. in 2006, and since then many applications have been proposed. Microwave radiation has been also used to assist techniques such as microwave-assisted headspace single drop microextraction and microwave-assisted dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction based on solidification of the floating organic droplet with satisfactory results over the conventional applications. Ionic liquids present low toxicity and biodegradability, which make them a greener alternative compared with the conventional solvents.