|
Ionic liquids are molten salts characterized by melting points below 100°C. This new class of liquid materials has attracted rapidly increasing scientific interest over recent years and ionic liquids have been applied in electrochemical, analytical, synthetic and engineering applications. So far, this development has been very much driven by the fact that some ionic liquids provide unique combinations of properties that enable processes with enhanced efficiency or products of better quality. However, despite the great success of this application-driven research, understanding of the special nature of these complex liquids is clearly underdeveloped to date.
This priority programme is dedicated to improving understanding of the special nature of ionic liquids through fundamental research. Therefore, the main goal of the programme is the detailed investigation of the interactions between the components of an ionic liquid (ions and ion clusters), on the one hand, and of the nature of interactions between ionic liquids and dissolved substances or between ionic liquids and interphases, on the other. It is hoped that this research effort will lead to experimentally validated models that will enable the structural optimization of ionic liquids to achieve given or desired property profiles. Such models are considered to be the key to accelerating future development in the field of ionic liquid research.
|
