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Chapter 1. Important Developments in the History of Ionic Liquids from Academic Curiosity to Commercial Processes and Products

Published

Author(s)

Joe W. Magee, Mark B. Shiflett, Dirk Tuma

Abstract

Twenty years ago, research involving ionic liquids was a minor field of interest and only a few chemists and even fewer engineers were interested in salts with melting points near room temperature. In April 2000, the first NATO advanced research workshop on ionic liquids was held in Heraklion, Crete. The conference was the first international meeting devoted to ionic liquids and attracted most of the active researchers at that time. Following that meeting, activity in the field began to flourish and the first books and international conferences devoted to ionic liquids began to appear. By the end of 2018 more than 80000 scientific papers were published and 17000 patent families were applied for in the field of ionic liquids! This book provides an overview of the current and emerging industrial applications of ionic liquids, covering the core processes and products, the practical implementation and technical challenges involved, and looking at potential future directions for research and development. The individual chapters, written by leading scientists in the field from industry to academia, address specific processes and products which are or will be soon commercialized. Over the past twenty years there has been a growing realization that ionic liquids have moved from being mere academic curiosities to having genuine applications in fields as wide-ranging as advanced materials, biotechnology, catalysis, pharmaceuticals, renewable fuels and sustainable energy. There are many optimistic indications that ionic liquids are on their way to becoming a commercial success story. This first book on Commercial Applications of Ionic Liquids provides over 50 applications that are either at the pilot-scale or have been commercialized, and indicates that an exciting new chapter in the field of Ionic Liquids is about to begin!
Citation
Commercial Applications of Ionic Liquids
Publisher Info
Springer International Publishing AG, Cham,

Keywords

ionic liquid, technologies, commercial processes, commercial processes, historical perspective

Citation

Magee, J. , Shiflett, M. and Tuma, D. (2020), Chapter 1. Important Developments in the History of Ionic Liquids from Academic Curiosity to Commercial Processes and Products, Commercial Applications of Ionic Liquids, Springer International Publishing AG, Cham, , [online], https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35245-5-1 (Accessed February 11, 2025)

Issues

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Created February 14, 2020, Updated February 4, 2025