title: Nanoconfined Ionic Liquids.
abstract: Ionic liquids (ILs) have been widely investigated as novel solvents, electrolytes, and soft functional materials. Nevertheless, the widespread applications of ILs in most cases have been hampered by their liquid state. The confinement of ILs into nanoporous hosts is a simple but versatile strategy to overcome this problem. Nanoconfined ILs constitute a new class of composites with the intrinsic chemistries of ILs and the original functions of solid matrices. The interplay between these two components, particularly the confinement effect and the interactions between ILs and pore walls, further endows ILs with significantly distinct physicochemical properties in the restricted space compared to the corresponding bulk systems. The aim of this article is to provide a comprehensive review of nanoconfined ILs. After a brief introduction of bulk ILs, the synthetic strategies and investigation methods for nanoconfined ILs are documented. The local structure and physicochemical properties of ILs in diverse porous hosts are summarized in the next sections. The final section highlights the potential applications of nanoconfined ILs in diverse fields, including catalysis, gas capture and separation, ionogels, supercapacitors, carbonization, and lubrication. Further research directions and perspectives on this topic are also provided in the conclusion.
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.|Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis & Selective Oxidation, State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No.18, Tianshui Middle Road, 730000 Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shiguo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: School of Materials Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen 518055, China.
authors.forename: Jiaheng
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: College of Materials Science and Engineering, Hunan University , Changsha 410082, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis, State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis & Selective Oxidation, State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences , No.18, Tianshui Middle Road, 730000 Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Youquan
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7612-0354
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Deng