Local and Long-Range Organization in Room Temperature Ionic Liquids

Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) have a wide range of current and potential applications, in areas ranging from supercapacitor energy storage to sequestration of toxic gas phase species and use as reusable solvents for selected organic reactions. All these applications stem from their unique physical and chemical properties, which remain understood to only a limited extent. Among the issues of greatest importance is the extent to which RTILs exist as dissociated ionic species and the length scales over which some types of organizations are seen to exist in them. In this Invited Feature Article, we review the current understanding of organization in this family of materials, where opportunities lie in terms of deepening our understanding, and what potential applications would benefit from gaining such knowledge.