Ionic liquids in space technology - www.ilschem.com

For decades, humankind is not limited to the exploration of our own planet, but reaches our far into the space. Scientists all over the world every day try to push our barrier of knowledge further and further. To enable it, cutting-edge technologies are needed. Can ionic liquids provide opportunities to improve on the current technologies that allow us to explore the space?

As soon as we travel away from Earth, we find ourselves in very extreme conditions. Lack of oxygen, very low pressures, extreme variations of temperatures, ionizing radiation, highly reactive species, dust… in order to survive we need sophisticated equipment that protects form the dangerous environment and is able to support research. And that all after the safe launch from the Earth.

Scheme 1. Applications of ILs in space technology

Ionic liquids have been researched for applications in some space technologies, so let´s have look at what we can achieve.