Functional Ion Gels: Versatile Electrolyte Platforms for Electrochemical Applications

Abstract

Ion gels consisting of room-temperature ionic liquids and polymer gelators are considered attractive solid-state electrolyte platforms for functional electrochemical applications due to their tunable electrochemical/mechanical properties, nonvolatility even in a vacuum, and compatibility with various solution processes. Accordingly, a number of studies have been reported on improving the functionality of ion gels and their use in diverse applications. In this Perspective, we highlight recent representative advances in the development of functional gels based on judiciously designed copolymer gelators or prepared by incorporating redox species. In addition, we introduce versatile applicability of ion gels in a variety of applications including electrochemical displays, smart sensory systems, and energy generation/storage systems.

Ionic guest in ionic host: ionosilica ionogel composites via ionic liquid confinement in ionosilica supports

“…Our work points the particular position of these all-ionic composite materials in the area of IGs. Whereas poly(ionic liquid)/IL composites have already been reported and investigated as efficient carbon dioxide sequestrating phases 31,32 and for electrochemical applications, 33 ionosilica/IL composites are a completely unexplored field yet.…”

Ionic Liquid-Based Gels for Applications in Electrochemical Energy Storage and Conversion Devices: A Review of Recent Progress and Future Prospects

“…Other methods for IL-based gel preparation, namely solvent exchange, click reaction, electrostatic interactions, electro-spinning, 3D printing, H-bonding, mechanical ball milling, and roller pressing, are available in the literature [ 15 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ]. Figure 3 shows different methods of obtaining IL-based gels.…”

“… ( a ) Locking 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (EMIMDCA) IL in poly(2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) (PAMPS)-based DN network through electrostatic interactions [ 70 , 71 ]. ( b ) Forming polyimide ionogels by solution displacement attributed to hydrogen bonding [ 72 ].…”

Tailoring Diffusion Dynamics in Energy Storage Ionic Conductors for High‐Performance, Multi‐Function, Single‐Layer Electrochromic Supercapacitors

“…In this context, there were several attempts to merge energy storage devices and other features, such as self‐healing and self‐powering. [ 1,2 ] Voltage‐dependent optical color changes, referred to as electrochromism, [ 3–7 ] offer an opportunity to fabricate functional energy storage devices that can visualize the charged energy status via color change with no additional equipment. Electrochromic supercapacitors (ECSs) represent a cutting‐edge option with such a dual function, in which electrochromic (EC) chromophores are employed as redox species storing charges through faradaic reactions.…”