Ionic liquids are a new class of organic solvents with high polarity and a preorganized solvent structure. Very polar reactions can be carried out in these liquid in the absence of or with a controlled amount of water, and crystalline nanoparticles can be synthesized conveniently at ambient temperatures. The pronounced self-organization of the solvent is used in the synthesis of self-assembled, highly organized hybrid nanostructures with unparalleled quality. The extraordinary potential of ionic liquids in materials synthesis is described in this minireview and a physicochemical explanation is given.

We report results of nitrogen and argon adsorption experiments performed at 77.4 and 87.3 K on novel micro/mesoporous silica materials with morphologically different networks of mesopores embedded into microporous matrixes: SE3030 silica with worm-like cylindrical channels of mode diameter of approximately 95 angstroms, KLE silica with cage-like spheroidal pores of ca. 140 angstroms, KLE/IL silica with spheroidal pores of approximately 140 angstroms connected by cylindrical channels of approximately 26 angstroms, and, also for a comparison, on Vycor glass with a disordered network of pores of mode diameter of approximately 70 angstroms. We show that the type of hysteresis loop formed by adsorption/desorption isotherms is determined by different mechanisms of condensation and evaporation and depends upon the shape and size of pores. We demonstrate that adsorption experiments performed with different adsorptives allow for detecting and separating the effects of pore blocking/percolation and cavitation in the course of evaporation. The results confirm that cavitation-controlled evaporation occurs in ink-bottle pores with the neck size smaller than a certain critical value. In this case, the pressure of evaporation does not depend upon the neck size. In pores with larger necks, percolation-controlled evaporation occurs, as observed for nitrogen (at 77.4 K) and argon (at 87.3 K) on porous Vycor glass. We elaborate a novel hybrid nonlocal density functional theory (NLDFT) method for calculations of pore size distributions from adsorption isotherms in the entire range of micro- and mesopores. The NLDFT method, applied to the adsorption branch of the isotherm, takes into account the effect of delayed capillary condensation in pores of different geometries. The pore size data obtained by the NLDFT method for SE3030, KLE, and KLE/IL silicas agree with the data of SANS/SAXS techniques.

In this paper, we report on Li storage in hierarchically porous carbon monoliths with a relatively higher graphite‐like ordered carbon structure. Macroscopic carbon monoliths with both mesopores and macropores were successfully prepared by using meso‐/macroporous silica as a template and using mesophase pitch as a precursor. Owing to the high porosity (providing ionic transport channels) and high electronic conductivity (ca. 0.1 S cm–1), this porous carbon monolith with a mixed conducting 3D network shows a superior high‐rate performance if used as anode material in electrochemical lithium cells. A challenge for future research as to its applicability in batteries is the lowering of the irreversible capacity.

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