title: Ionic Liquid Crystals: Versatile Materials.
abstract: This Review covers the recent developments (2005-2015) in the design, synthesis, characterization, and application of thermotropic ionic liquid crystals. It was designed to give a comprehensive overview of the "state-of-the-art" in the field. The discussion is focused on low molar mass and dendrimeric thermotropic ionic mesogens, as well as selected metal-containing compounds (metallomesogens), but some references to polymeric and/or lyotropic ionic liquid crystals and particularly to ionic liquids will also be provided. Although zwitterionic and mesoionic mesogens are also treated to some extent, emphasis will be directed toward liquid-crystalline materials consisting of organic cations and organic/inorganic anions that are not covalently bound but interact via electrostatic and other noncovalent interactions.
authors.affiliation: Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.|Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium.|Department of Organic and Macromolecular Chemistry, Ghent University , Krijgslaan 281 S4, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lava
authors.affiliation: Center for Multidimensional Carbon Materials (CMCM), Institute for Basic Science (IBS) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.|Department of Chemistry and Department of Energy Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) , Ulsan 689-798, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Christopher W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Bielawski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven , Celestijnenlaan 200F, P.O. Box 2404, B-3001 Heverlee, Belgium.
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Binnemans