Participants: Hoagland and Watkins (coordinators), McCarthy, Lesser, Hsu, Muthukumar (with 4 students)

Fundamental principles of polymer materials behavior are poorly understood in the context of ionic liquids (ILs), a class of unconventional solvents comprised of organic salts with melting temperatures below 100C. The goal of this IRG is to explore opportunities for use of these solvents in preparation of polymeric materials with unique properties. Exploited IL properties include vanishing volatility, high ion conductivity, and moderate dielectric constant.  Seed activities are pursued in four areas: Polymers in Ionic Liquids, Ionic Liquid-Solid Polymer Interfaces, Polymers at Ionic Liquid Solution Interfaces, and Ionic Liquids in Polymers.