Ionic Liquids: A Plethora of Promise

Rick Howard on Ionic liquids— the salvation of electrolytes for lithium‑ion batteries?

One trillion! 1012! That's the estimated number of ionic liquids (ILs) possible from the pairing of bulky, polarizable organic cations and smaller, mostly inorganic, cations. Although ILs have been known for over a century, only in the last 10-15 years have researchers intensely pursued the incredible potential of these species. Applications abound in energy storage, chemical synthesis, machinery, and medicine: electrolytes with wide solvation capability, catalysts, lubricants, and pharmaceutical in vitro transport, to name a few. 

IL intellectual property almost always . . .