Recent progress in self-assembly of ionic liquid surfactants and its regulation and control in aqueous solutions

Abstract

Application of ionic liquid surfactants in chemical synthesis, materials preparation, and environmental pollution control is closely dependent on their self-assembly behavior and aggregate structure in aqueous solution. Thus, the study of the aggregation behavior of ionic liquid surfactants in water is of significant importance. In this review, we focus our attention on the recent progress made in the regulation and control of the self-assembly behavior of ionic liquid surfactants and related microstructure of their aggregates in aqueous solutions by alkyl chain length, cationic structure, anionic type of the ionic liquid surfactants, addition of inorganic salt and organic solvent, and environmental factors such as temperature, solution pH, and light. Some regularities have been summarized for the regulation and control of the self-assembly behavior of ionic liquid surfactants, and the challenges to future development in this field are explained.