Revisiting the Advances on Specific Industrial Applications of Ionic Liquids for a Sustainable Green Future - A Review

Ionic liquids (ILs) have garnered significant attention due to their potential applications in several industrial sectors. ILs offer versatile solutions for many industrial processes owing to their characteristic features such as low volatility, tunability, and excellent solvent capabilities. This report reviews advances in applying ionic liquids in adsorption, corrosion inhibition, catalysis, solvation, and drug delivery. The prospects of ionic liquids are also provided in addition to recommendations for the future application of ionic liquids. However, despite the advances in the application of ionic liquids for different purposes, challenges such as cost-effectiveness and scalability need to be addressed for large-scale implementation. Further research is recommended to optimize IL synthesis, recovery, and recycling methods. Interdisciplinary collaborations among academia, industry, and regulatory bodies are essential to overcome these challenges and fully realize the potential of ILs in industrial applications. In particular, research focus is gradually redirecting to the complete replacement of these hazardous solvents with environmentally benign solvents such as ionic liquids used in biomas conversion as demonstrated by the ionosolv process for the fractionation of a wide variety of lignocellulosic plant biomass using ultra-low-cost ionic liquids. It was also revealed that ionic liquids provide an alternative approach in catalysis just like some recent renewable and sustainable catalytic transformations that can be attained through environmentally friendly pathways via metal-free approach. Also, the effective implementation of IL as competitive adsorbents with other adsorbent materials such as is demonstrated.