4. Outlook

Now in the second decade of their detailed study, magnetic ionic liquids are beginning to prove their worth in both fundamental research and applications. It is interesting to note the high degree of interdisciplinarity, involving fields and themes such as synthetic chemistry, physical chemistry, molecular magnetism, microfluidics, analytical chemistry, catalysis and separation techniques. Sustained collaboration between chemists, physicists and engineers should open up new applications based on the multi-functionality of LIMs.

Another avenue of research lies at the crossroads of LI and liquid crystals, leading to the field of Ionic Liquid Crystals (CLI)