Ionic liquids (ILs), compounds composed entirely of ions and with melting points below 100�C have gained popularity over the past years and have become products of industrial interest, instead of just being lab curiosities. The possible applications of ionic liquids are quite broad due to their unique combination of physical-chemical properties. ILs distinguishes oneself e.g. by a high thermal stability, a low vapor pressure, incombustibility and a high surface tension. These properties make them to promising candidates for the use as additives for lubricants or as neat lubricants for special applications, in particular in high vacuum or extreme temperature applications. In addition, some highly surface active ILs can be used to prepare stable dispersions of nanoparticles like carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, graphite and graphene that show itself good tribological performance. Anti-wear properties of the base oil can be improved by addition of these carbon allotropes. Furthermore, heat transfer media are also of great importance for many industrial processes in which heat needs to be transported or transformed. Due to their unique profile of properties ILs are good candidates not only for use as thermal fluids in special (waste) heat transfer applications but also for CO2-capturing- and conversion media.We will try to present the view of a start-up company, specialized in the synthesis and technology development in the field of ionic liquids, which has been on the market for more than 10 years and give an overview about ILs in the application fields of lubricants, dispersant additives and thermal fluids. In our contribution we will also report our latest R&D results in these particular areas and briefly discuss the problems and needs, both of us as a supplier and those of our industrial customers, including, but not limited to purity, price and availability.

Ionic liquids as functional fluids: An overview

248th National Meeting (2014)

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