Ionic Liquids and Ionic Liquid-Mediated Dispersions of Nanomaterials as High Performance Additives for Lubricants
Ionic Liquids (ILs) are a new class of materials, consisting entirely of ions, which are liquid at unusual low temperatures [1]. Typical structural motifs combine organic cations with inorganic, or, more rarely, organic anions. The manifold combinations of cations and anions provide a large number of liquid materials with (tunable) unique properties such as high thermal stability, negligible vapor pressure, non-flammability, good solubility of many inorganic precursor salts as a consequence of the tunable polarity of ILs and their tenside like character. As a consequence, this unique combination of properties makes ILs the media of choice for dispersing nanoparticles [2].