Ionic liquids intercalated in kaolinite constitute a novel class of nanostructured material. Kaolinite-pyrrolidinium halide intercalates have been prepared successfully by reacting the pyrrolidinium salts with kaolinite which was preintercalated with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) using the melt condition under N2. X-ray diffraction, 13C magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance, differential thermal analysis (DTA)-thermal gravimetric analysis, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirm the displacement of DMSO during the intercalation process. Based on results from the various characterization techniques, a structural model is proposed in which one mole of the pyrrolidinium salt covers two or three structural units of kaolinite, depending on the structure and size of the salt. The thermal stability was improved remarkably after intercalation of the pyrrolidinium salts, compared to the pre-intercalate. The DTA-TGA data show that the largest number of organic units released and decomposed, occurs under N2 flow, at temperatures ranging from 260 to 340°C, depending on the nature of the intercalated organic salts.

The objective of this study was to design new, functional, nanostructured materials from the abundant clay mineral kaolinite, in spite of development problems with the interlayer chemistry of kaolinite because of its non-swelling properties. A particular goal of this work was to graft, in a controlled way, alkylammonium groups onto the aluminol interlayer surfaces of kaolinite. This was successfully achieved by soft-chemical approaches, more specifically by the melting intercalation process of alkylammonium ionic liquids which were synthesized for this purpose. The resulting nanohybrid materials were characterized chemically and structurally by X-ray diffraction analysis, thermal analysis (TG/DTA), 13C cross polarization magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. The amount of grafted organic material was quantified from TGA results. Alkylammonium salts with a short alkyl chain were grafted directly using a melting reaction at 180°C under N2 involving the in situ displacement of dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) from a DMSO-kaolinite pre-intercalate; for longer alkyl chains, the grafting was done in two steps. In the first step, the corresponding amino-alcohol was grafted into the kaolinite by displacement of DMSO from the interlayer space. The second step consisted of quaternarization of the grafted material by reaction with iodomethane or iodoethane.

Three herbicidal ionic liquids (HILs)—alkyldi(2-hydroxyethyl)methylammonium (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetate, dialkyldimethylammonium (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetate, and alkyltrimethylammonium (2,4-dichlorophenoxy)acetate—were synthesized and their activity against broad-leaved weeds was investigated under field conditions. HILs as [cation][2,4-D] used in winter wheat were much more active compared to 2,4-D-dimethylammonium salt and demonstrated efficacy similar to 2,4-D 2-ethylhexyl ester. HILs exhibited desirable surface properties such as low contact angle of droplets and low surface tension. Moreover, the HILs may be safer to operators and neighboring plants due to their nonvolatile nature. HILs at 450 g ha−1 of 2,4-D did not injure wheat.

Ionic liquids (ILs) and their mixtures with low molecular solvents present ideal properties for use as flotation liquids in cryo-ultramicrotomy. With control of Tg and η by co-solvent addition, flat, ultra-thin sections are reliably floated onto transmission electron microscopy grids even at temperatures as low as −100°C. Even more, the liquids and their mixtures are stable in the microtome trough for several hours because of low vapor pressure and low solidification temperature. Compared to established flotation media for soft polymer systems, the time and skill needed for cryo-ultramicrotomy are significantly reduced. Although just a handful of ILs are discussed and a good general choice identified, if different liquid characteristics are needed for a particular sample, thousands of additional ILs will perform similarly, giving this new approach enormous flexibility.

Ionic liquids are well suited to the electrochemical synthesis of freestanding metallic nanowires as well as macroporous metals and semiconductors. Such materials are potentially interesting for future generation Li-ion batteries. As the energy density of current Li-ion batteries barely exceeds 0.15 kWh/kg (in contrast to the 12 kWh/kg of hydrocarbons), there is a need for new anode and cathode materials if electrically driven cars are to have more than a 150 km cruising range at an affordable price. Freestanding aluminum nanowires and macroporous aluminum are easily feasible from AlCl3-based ionic liquids and show promising charge/discharge behavior even with ionic liquids as electrolytes. The challenges and the potential to make nanowires or macroporous structures of semiconductors (Si, Ge) are also briefly discussed.

There is an urgent need for new energy storage and conversion systems in order to tackle the environmental problems we face today and to make the transition to a fossil fuel-free society. New batteries, supercapacitors, and fuel cells have the potential to be key devices for large-scale energy storage systems for load leveling and electric vehicles. In many cases, the concepts are known, but the right materials solutions are lacking. Ionic liquids (ILs) have been highlighted as suitable materials to be included in new devices, most commonly as electrolytes. Attractive features of ILs such as high ionic conductivity, low vapor pressure, high thermal and electrochemical stability, large temperature range for the liquid phase, and flexibility in molecular design have drawn the attention of researchers from many different fields. In addition, there is the possibility of designing new materials and morphologies using electrochemical synthesis with ILs. In this article, we provide an introduction to ILs and their properties, serving as a base for the topical articles in this issue.

Based on biologically inspired algorithms, a thermodynamic model to describe the vapor-liquid equilibrium of binary complex mixtures containing supercritical fluids and ionic liquids, is presented. The Peng-Robinson equation of state with the Wong-Sandler mixing rules are used to evaluate the fugacity coefficient on the systems. Then, a hybrid particle swarm-ant colony optimization was used to minimize the difference between calculated and experimental bubble pressure, and calculate the binary interaction parameters for the excess Gibbs free energy of all systems used. Simulations are carried out in nine systems with imidazolium-based ionic liquids. The results show that the bubble pressures were correlated with low deviations between experimental and calculated values. These deviations show that the proposed hybrid algorithm is the preferable method to describe the phase equilibrium of these complex mixtures, and can be used for other similar systems.

This review of photoelectrochemical cells (PECs) based on inherently conducting polymers (ICPs) deals with the mechanisms of operation and the various factors that influence the overall efficiency of PECs. The factors addressed include ICP composition and oxidation state, the use of nanostructured surfaces and interfaces, and the PEC electrolyte and redox mediator.