Chapter 3 - Current trends and applications of ionic liquids in electrochemical devices

Abstract

The exclusive combination of characteristics distinguishes ionic liquids (ILs) as auspicious options designed for various energy-related applications. Environmental contamination and sparking by the chemical and energy sectors have been expanding steadily for many decades. Therefore the public has come to anticipate that scientists and engineers would endeavor to establish environmentally friendly chemical processes, fewer precarious constituents, and extra ecologically friendly methods of energy generation. The applications of ILs and IL-based solvent systems as substitutes to traditional organic solvents are addressed in this chapter. The research focused on facets that have not been deliberated in previous reviews due to their benefits. Aside from that, the researchers went through the functionalities of room-temperature ILs (RTILs), and RTIL-based solvents, which they believed may be used as possible replacements for conventional organic electrolyte solutions. To that end, this paper covered a wide range of topics, ranging from their fundamental properties to utilization in electrochemical developments and as a component in nonfaradaic biosensing systems and electrochemical gas sensors, among other things. Also covered were the origins and applications of ionized liquids in electrochemical devices, as well as their use in a diversity of realms of electrochemistry, for instance, energy storage and conversion materials/devices, energy sustainability and CO2 sequestration, advanced electrochemical devices, electrochemical sensing properties of ILs, ammonium, pyrrolidinium, phosphonium, and sulfonium-based ILs, and electrochemical properties. In addition, the current status of ILs and their prospects for the future were discussed.