(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2017-02-10)
Lodge, Timothy P.
Ionic liquids are an emerging class of solvents with an appealing set of physical attributes. These
include negligible vapor pressure, impressive chemical and thermal stability, tunable solvation
properties, high ionic conductivity, and wide electrochemical windows. In particular, the non-volatility
renders ionic liquids practical components of devices, but they require structure-directing agents to
become functional materials. Block polymers provide a convenient platform for achieving desirable
nanostructures by self-assembly, with lengthscales varying from a few nanometers up to several
hundred nanometers. Furthermore, ionic liquids and polymer blocks can be selected to impart
exquisitely tunable thermosensitivity, by exploiting either upper or lower critical solution transitions
(UCSTs and LCSTs). In selected cases, it is also possible to prepare photoreversible and
photopatternable systems. Overall, by combining designed block polymers and ionic liquids we have
demonstrated materials with superior performance for a remarkably diverse set of applications. These
include micelles for extraction, nanoreactors for catalysis, gate dielectrics in organic transistors, electrochromic and electroluminescent gels, and membranes for gas separation, ion batteries, and
fuel cells.