Ionic Liquid Membrane Technology

Ionic liquids have some unique physical/chemical properties that make them excellent materials to be used in various morphologies as membranes. These morphologies include ionic liquids impregnated into the pores of supports (supported liquid membrane), polymeric versions of ionic liquids, composites of the polymer with ionic liquid, and three-component systems where there is also a solid phase such as a zeolite, and finally gelled versions. These membranes have been demonstrated for various gas and liquid phase separations. For gases, the most studied separation is CO2 from N2 or CH4. Separation of organics from water is the most common liquid phase application. One additional application is as barrier materials where the membrane acts to protect against chemical warfare agents (CWAs) or other toxic chemicals while allowing water vapour to be transported. These membranes can also be used for electrochemical applications due to the ionic nature of the material.