Ionic liquid-modified materials for solid-phase extraction and separation: A review

In recent years, materials science has propelled to the research forefront. Ionic liquids with unique and fascinating properties have also left their footprints to the developments of materials science during the last years. In this review we highlight some of their recent advances and provide an overview at the current status of ionic liquid-modified materials applied in solid-phase extraction, liquid and gas chromatography and capillary electrochromatography with reference to recent applications. In addition, the potential of ionic liquids in the modification of capillary inner wall in capillary electrophoresis is demonstrated. The main target material modified with ionic liquids is silica, but polymers and monoliths have recently joined the studies. Although imidazolium is still clearly the most commonly used ionic liquid for the covalently modification of materials, the exploitation of pyridinium and phosphonium will most probably increase in the future.

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► Ionic liquids modified materials present excellent properties for extraction and separation.
► Covalently bonded ionic liquid looses the liquid state but maintains the dual nature properties.
► Silica and polymers have been mainly the materials modified by ionic liquids.
► The use of ionic liquid in SPE is reviewed for first time.
► This is the first review just focused on covalently modified materials by ionic liquid.