Ionic liquid transported into metal–organic frameworks

• First review on ionic liquids supported by metal–organic frameworks.
• Tunable properties of ionic liquids by nanosized effect and interaction with metal–organic frameworks.
• Possible applications such as gas absorbents, catalysts, precursors of carbons, and ionic conductors.

Ionic liquids (ILs) show promise as new green solvents for chemical reactions, extractions, catalysis, gas absorption, and electrolytes in electrochemical devices. For the widespread use of ILs, the concept of ILs impregnated with porous supports has recently been established. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have great potential as new host materials for ILs; they are able to decrease the amounts of ILs and tune the properties of ILs via host–guest interactions. In this review, we will present an overview of the studies carried out to date on MOF-supported IL systems, and their possible applications, such as in gas absorption, catalysis, templates for synthesis of nanoporous carbons, and ionic conductors.