Ionic Liquid-Based Membranes

This chapter explores the mechanisms of gas transport through room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) membranes. It presents work that has sought to address the challenges associated with implementation of these unique materials in separations applications. One of the challenges in membrane-based separation is developing membrane materials that show optimal separation performance while retaining easy processability and cost-effective implementation. Despite the great potential of RTILs to be used in membrane-based separations, a number of challenges remain before these promising materials will be widely implemented in applications. Practically, the RTIL is loaded into the porous support by first immersing the support in the ionic liquid (IL) and allowing it to diffuse into the pores. Many of the RTILs have outstanding CO₂ permeability and selectivity, often surpassing the Robe-son upper bound, which makes them valuable for membrane-based separations.