Recent Advances in Electrocatalytic Applications of Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids have emerged as an environmentally friendly alternative to the volatile organic solvents. Being designer solvents, they can be modulated to suit the reaction conditions, therefore earning the name “task-specific ionic liquids.” Though primarily used as solvents, they are now finding applications in various fields such as catalysis, electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and material science to mention a few. The goal of this chapter is focused on the electrocatalytic applications of ionic liquids, which can be used as catalysts and catalytic supports in electrochemistry. Their scope has marched beyond academic research laboratories to industries where their practical applications have been leading to various sustainable technologies. Flexibility to modulate properties by changing design endows freedom to a chemist to design an ionic liquid according to one’s own requirement. To conclude, it can be said that the field of ionic liquid electrocatalysis holds enormous possibilities to be explored.