25th Anniversary Article: "Cooking Carbon with Salt": Carbon Materials and Carbonaceous Frameworks from Ionic Liquids and Poly(ionic liquid)s

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 25; no. 41; pp. 5838 - 5855
• Main Authors: Fellinger, Tim-Patrick, Thomas, Arne, Yuan, Jiayin, Antonietti, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Blackwell Publishing Ltd 06.11.2013
• Subjects: Carbon; carbon synthesis; electrocatalysis; ionic liquids; poly(ionic liquid)s; porous materials; poly(ionic liquid)s; porous materials; ionic liquids; electrocatalysis; carbon synthesis
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201301975

This review surveys recent work on the use of ionic liquids (ILs) and polymerized ionic liquids (PILs) as precursors to synthesize functional carbon materials. As solvents or educts with negligible vapour pressure, these systems enable simple processing, composition, and structural control of the resulting carbons under rather simple and green synthesis conditions. Recent applications of the resulting nanocarbons across a multitude of fields, such as fuel cells, energy storage in batteries and supercapacitors, catalysis, separation, and sorption materials are highlighted. Ionic liquids (ILs) and polymerized ionic liquids (PILs) are flexible and versatile precursors for the synthesis of functional carbon materials. Heteroatom doping and various morphologies, such as powder, film, hollow spheres, fibers, and monoliths, are all accessible when proper structures and processing methods are coupled with this IL/PIL route. Applications in energy storage, catalysis, separation, and sorption are highlighted.