Ionic liquids: a state of the art for biomedical applications

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) consist of poorly coordinated ions for contributing important physical properties in the liquid form at room temperature. Due to volatile nature, ILs show less vapor pressure and strong electrostatic force among the ions and possess high electro-chemical, thermal, and chemical stabilities. This review article focuses on advanced applications of ILs in the drug delivery, biosensing, biotechnology, and cosmetics to enhance the shelf-life of products and modulation of rate of kinetics. ILs also prevent the biofilm formation which is a major factor for antimicrobial resistance in the body. Recently, in vitro release of actives is enhanced using ILs like tetrabutylphosphonium for anti-migraine drugs release from pharmaceutical formulations. ILs will be the ideal solvents systems for modification and fabrication of physicochemical properties of the therapeutics with fewer adverse events in near future by opening new avenues for fabrication of biochemical products. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].