Issue 24, 2022

Ionic liquids and deep eutectics as a transformative platform for the synthesis of nanomaterials

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) are becoming a revolutionary synthesis medium for inorganic nanomaterials, permitting more efficient, safer and environmentally benign preparation of high quality products. A smart combination of ILs and unconventional synthesis methods allows added value to be drawn from the broad matrix of available property combinations. Mixed systems such as Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) offer a similarly broad combinatorial playground, which is also beginning to translate into applications. Approached holistically, these liquids therefore enable new universal manufacturing techniques that provide solutions to the existing problems of nanomanufacturing, and beyond that will open completely new horizons and possibilities for controlling the growth and assembly of nanostructures. Examples that illustrate the power of ILs in the improved manufacturing of nanomaterials are explored, such as the synthesis of light phosphors with exceptional quantum yields, record-figure-of merit thermoelectrics, and efficient photocatalysts, alongside developments in DES nanostructure and deep eutectic-solvothermal and ionothermal techniques.

Graphical abstract: Ionic liquids and deep eutectics as a transformative platform for the synthesis of nanomaterials

Article information

Article type
Feature Article
Submitted
21 Nov 2021
Accepted
13 Jan 2022
First published
17 Jan 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Chem. Commun., 2022,58, 3865-3892

Ionic liquids and deep eutectics as a transformative platform for the synthesis of nanomaterials

O. S. Hammond and A. Mudring, Chem. Commun., 2022, 58, 3865 DOI: 10.1039/D1CC06543B

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements