title: Ionic liquid thermal stabilities: decomposition mechanisms and analysis tools.
abstract: The increasing amount of papers published on ionic liquids generates an extensive quantity of data. The thermal stability data of divergent ionic liquids are collected in this paper with attention to the experimental set-up. The influence and importance of the latter parameters are broadly addressed. Both ramped temperature and isothermal thermogravimetric analysis are discussed, along with state-of-the-art methods, such as TGA-MS and pyrolysis-GC. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methodologies known to date demonstrate that analysis methods should be in line with the application. The combination of data from advanced analysis methods allows us to obtain in-depth information on the degradation processes. Aided with computational methods, the kinetics and thermodynamics of thermal degradation are revealed piece by piece. The better understanding of the behaviour of ionic liquids at high temperature allows selective and application driven design, as well as mathematical prediction for engineering purposes.
authors.affiliation: SynBioC Research Group, Department of Sustainable Organic Chemistry and Technology, Ghent University, Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Cedric
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maton
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: De Vos
authors.forename: Christian V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Stevens
mesh_terms: D004355:Drug Stability; D006358:Hot Temperature; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D052578:Ionic Liquids