The Advanced Applications of Ionic Liquids in New Energy, Electronic Information Materials, and Biotechnologies

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) with remarkable performance offer opportunities to advance the green and low-carbon chemical processes. Much work is focused on building innovative theory and knowledge framework to unravel the ILs’ nature, yet there is also an increasing trend to utilize ILs in the rapidly emerging fields. Aiming to provide an overview regarding the recent advances and challenges of ILs in the development of green processes for renewable resources, this review highlights the properties and functions of ILs as electrolyte additives, modifiers, exfoliation agents, nucleation substrates, IL gating, tunable solvents, versatile carriers or biosensor components in three representative and revolutionary production processes, including new energy, electronic information materials, and biotechnologies. The innovative applications of ILs demonstrate their potential to create the landscape of low-carbon, high-end and smart technologies.