Ionic tailor-made material

Ionic liquids (IL) are salts melting at low temperatures, and represent a novel class of solvents with non-molecular ionic character. In contrast to a classical molten salt, which is a high-melting, highly viscous, and very corrosive medium, an ionic liquid is already liquid at temperatures below 100 °C and is of relatively low viscosity [4]. In most cases, ionic liquids consist of combinations of cations such as ammonium, phosphonium, imidazolium, or pyridinium with anions such as halides, phosphates, borates, sulfonates, or sulfates. The combination of cation and anion has a great influence on the physical properties of the resulting ionic liquid. By careful choice of cation and anion it is possible to fine tune the properties of the ionic liquid and provide a tailor-made solution for each task (Fig. 1), and this is why ionic liquids are often referred to as designer solvents or materials. 

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