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Materials science

Reflections on ionic liquids

Nature volume 447, pages 917–918 (2007)Cite this article

Ionic liquids are generally regarded as solvents, but these modular, tunable compounds have far greater technological potential. With a coat of silver, they become ideal materials for the liquid mirror of a space telescope.

Ionic liquids seem to defy common sense. Most ionic compounds are crystalline solids with high melting points, but these fascinating salts melt at temperatures below 100 °C; indeed, many are liquids at room temperature. Their melt forms are composed of discrete cations and anions1 that can be individually customized, allowing the synthesis of a wide range of liquid materials with tunable physical, chemical and biological properties.

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Figure 1: Liquid-mirror telescopes.

References

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  1. Robin D. Rogers is in the Department of Chemistry and Center for Green Manufacturing, The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487, USA. rdrogers@bama.ua.edu,

    Robin D. Rogers

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  1. Robin D. Rogers
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Rogers, R. Reflections on ionic liquids. Nature 447, 917–918 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/447917a

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