During the past decade, ionic-liquid-based Aqueous Biphasic Systems (ABS) have been the focus of a significant amount of research. Based on a compilation and analysis of the data hitherto reported, this critical review provides a judicious assessment of the available literature on the subject. We evaluate the quality of the data and establish the main drawbacks found in the literature. We discuss the main issues which govern the phase behaviour of ionic-liquid-based ABS, and we highlight future challenges to the field. In particular, the effect of the ionic liquid structure and the various types of salting-out agents (inorganic or organic salts, amino acids and carbohydrates) on the phase equilibria of ABS is discussed, as well as the influence of secondary parameters such as temperature and pH. More recent approaches using ionic liquids as additives or as replacements for common salts in polymer-based ABS are also presented and discussed to emphasize the expanding number of aqueous two-phase systems that can actually be obtained. Finally, we address two of the main applications of ionic liquid-based ABS: extraction of biomolecules and other added-value compounds, and their use as alternative approaches for removing and recovering ionic liquids from aqueous media.

Ionic liquids have become a green media for engineering applications due to exceptional physicochemical properties, such as their practically nonvolatile nature, null flammability, low melting point, high ionic conductivity, and thermal and electrochemical stability. This work aimed to select the best fluorinated ionic liquids for the following applications: recovery/recycling of perfluorocarbon contaminants such as greenhouse perfluorocarbons gases and perfluoroalkyl acids of industrial effluents that are persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic, and the partial or total replacement of inert perfluorocarbons in oxygen therapeutic emulsions by enhancing the emulsion stability and increasing the solubility of respiratory gas. With this dual goal in mind, thermodynamic and thermophysical properties of fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs) and their toxicity and biocompatibility are discussed so that the feasibility of the proposed applications can be evaluated. Herein, FILs are defined as ionic liquids with fluorinated chain lengths equal or greater than four carbon atoms. This paper provides a critical review of the experimental data for fluorinated ionic liquids available in the literature, and subsequently, with the aim of expanding knowledge of FILs, eight new fluorinated ionic liquids were selected for characterization. The attained results will clearly impact applications using polyfluorinated compounds.

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In this work, novel and nontoxic fluorinated ionic liquids (FILs) that are totally miscible in water and could be used in biological applications, where fluorocarbon compounds present a handicap because their aqueous solubility (water and biological fluids) is in most cases too low, have been investigated. The self-aggregation behavior of perfluorosulfonate-functionalized ionic liquids in aqueous solutions has been characterized using conductometric titration, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), surface tension measurements, dynamic light scattering (DLS), viscosity and density measurements, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Aggregation and interfacial parameters have been computed by conductimetry, calorimetry, and surface tension measurements in order to study various thermodynamic and surface properties that demonstrate that the aggregation process is entropy-driven and that the aggregation process is less spontaneous than the adsorption process. The novel perfluorosulfonate-functionalized ILs studied in this work show improved surface activity and aggregation behavior, forming distinct self-assembled structures.

This work represents an essential step towards the understanding of the dynamics and thermodynamic characteristics of a novel family of ionic liquids, namely fluorinated ionic liquids based on the combination of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cations with perfluoroalkylsulfonates or perfluoroalkylcarboxylates anions. The so far scarce information about these fluids constitutes a limiting factor for their potential applications. In this work, we provide detailed evidence on the influence of hydrogenated and fluorinated alkyl chain lengths in the final characteristics of the fluorinated ionic liquids. Different properties, namely, melting point, decomposition temperature, density, dynamic viscosity, ionic conductivity and refractive index, were determined and the experimental results were discussed taking into account the influence of the length of the hydrogenated and fluorinated alkyl chains. Molecular dynamic simulations were also performed to study the nanoscale structuration of these novel compounds. Electronic Supplementary Information (ESI) available: The ESI contains the synthesis and characterization of novel FILs and experimental data of thermal properties, density, viscosity, refractive index and ionic conductivity. Moreover, the fitting parameters of these properties and values of molar volume and molar refraction are also showed. See