Environmental applications and toxicity of ionic liquids

Ionic liquids (ILs), characterized by their tunable miscibility, negligible vapor pressure, and wide electrochemical window, have emerged as a prevalent substitute for organic solvents in diverse environmental and industrial applications. This work provides a critical review on environmental applications of newly developed ILs in recent years, emphasizing their roles in removal of pollutants from wastewater and exhaust gas, and environmental analysis. Furthermore, the combination of ILs with novel materials such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and graphene is recapitulated. Moreover, the toxicological profile and mechanisms of newly developed ILs were also explored. It updates the recent research progress in the design of less toxic ILs and the development of novel mitigation methods for toxic ILs in the environment. In the end, future research directions and perspectives in the application of ILs are proposed.