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Poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) catalysts with swelling ability and water enrichment ability in water/ethylene carbonate (EC) mixed substrates were designed and synthesized via a one-step direct radical copolymerization of N-vinylimidazolium IL monomers, sodium acrylate and crosslinkers. The structure and morphology of the PILs were characterized by NMR, FT-IR, TGA, SEM and elemental analysis. The effect of substituent groups and crosslinkers on the swelling ability and water enrichment ability of PILs in water and EC was studied. The water enrichment ability of PILs was positively related to the hydrophilicity of 3-substituents on imidazoliums and the crosslinkers, and water could be absorbed inside quantitatively. These PIL catalysts could enrich the optimal ratio of water to EC inside and act as high-efficiency microreactors for the catalytic hydrolysis of EC. The water enrichment ability of PIL microreactors was helpful for the decrease of water amount and the increase of catalytic efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hierarchical porous poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) with high specific surface area were firstly synthesized via anion exchange. The exchange of bulky salicylate and its dimers/clusters in PILs by other smaller anions increased the specific surface area and fabricated a hierarchical porous structure. The high specific surface area and hierarchical porous structure prompted a high degree of exposure of the active sites and made the heterogeneous PIL catalysts contact with substrates sufficiently, enhancing their catalytic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germanium (Ge) based nanomaterials are regarded as promising high-capacity anode materials for Na ion batteries, but suffer fast capacity fading problems caused by the alloying/de-alloying reactions of Na-Ge. Herein, we report a new method for preparing highly dispersed GeO 2 by using molecular-level ionic liquids (ILs) as carbon sources. In the obtained GeO 2 @C composite material, GeO 2 exhibits hollow spherical morphology and is uniformly distributed in the carbon matrix. The as-prepared GeO 2 @C exhibits improved Na ion storage performances including high reversible capacity (577 mA h g -1 at 0.1C), rate property (270 mA h g -1 at 3C), and high capacity retention (82.3% after 500 cycles). The improved electrochemical performance could be attributed to the unique nanostructure of GeO 2 @C, the synergistic effect between GeO 2 hollow spheres and the carbon matrix ensures the anode material effectively alleviates the volume expansion and the particle agglomeration problems., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)