What Is Imidazolium?
Imidazolium is a general term for salts composed of cations with an Imidazolium ring in the molecule. It is called an Imidazolium salt because it is usually present as a salt.
Imidazolium is often handled with alkyl groups at the 1,3 or 1,2,3 positions. A typical compound is 1,3-dimethylimidazolium=dimethylphosphate. This compound is classified as acutely toxic and skin corrosive/irritating under the GHS classification.
Uses of Imidazolium
Imidazolium is used in ionic liquids. Traditionally, salts, whether inorganic or organic, have been considered solids, but ionic liquids, which have been attracting attention in recent years, have the property of being liquid at room temperature, despite being salts. Imidazolium, along with ammonium and pyridinium, is one of the representative salts that make up the cation portion of ionic liquids.
Because of their characteristics, ionic liquids are used as solvents, electrodeposition baths, electrolytes and electrolytes, and lubricants. In particular, their use as electrolytes in lithium or lithium-ion secondary batteries and in capacitors as fuel cell devices are applications that are attracting particular attention.