Abstract

Electrochemical reactions, with clean power, can prepare valuable chemicals directly and improve yield efficiency and reduce the three wastes, which have become one of the green methodologies. Ionic liquids have attracted increasing attention in the area of electrochemistry due to their significant properties including good chemical and thermal stability, wide liquid temperature range, considerable ionic conductivity, nonflammability, broad electrochemical potential window and tunable solvent properties. This review covers recent studies on the applications of ILs as green and universal replacements for the traditional reagents in electrochemical reactions such as oxidation, reduction, electrosynthesis, and some other reactions. The adaptabilities of ILs in these reactions are predicted as a solution to the problems of conventional electrochemical processes and to become a powerful method in electrochemical reactions.

Keywords: Ionic liquids, electrochemistry, electrooxidation, electroreduction, electrosynthesis, electrocatalysis.

Graphical Abstract