Conventional aspects of unconventional solvents: Room temperature ionic liquids as ion-exchangers and ionic surfactants

With few exceptions, research in the field of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) has sought to understand and exploit the " unconventional" aspects of these solvents, among them their wide electrochemical window, ionicity, and near absence of vapor pressure. The resemblance of certain families of RTILs to various well-known liquid ion-exchangers or ionic surfactants, however, raises a question as to the extent to which the behavior of these neoteric solvents can be understood on the basis of the known properties of these more conventional compounds. In this report, we examine this question as it relates to the development of novel, nanostructured media comprising ionic liquids and RTIL-based methods for metal ion separation and preconcentration. The results presented demonstrate that in certain respects, RTILs can be regarded as conventional chemical reagents.