Conference Description
The Ionic Liquids GRC is a premier, international scientific conference focused on advancing the frontiers of science through the presentation of cutting-edge and unpublished research, prioritizing time for discussion after each talk and fostering informal interactions among scientists of all career stages. The conference program includes a diverse range of speakers and discussion leaders from institutions and organizations worldwide, concentrating on the latest developments in the field. The conference is five days long and held in a remote location to increase the sense of camaraderie and create scientific communities, with lasting collaborations and friendships. In addition to premier talks, the conference has designated time for poster sessions from individuals of all career stages, and afternoon free time and communal meals allow for informal networking opportunities with leaders in the field.
Ionic liquids are an exciting class of solvents that have been known for over a century. Our understanding of ionic liquids has been enhanced by scientists and engineers who have studied them, making them even more visible and applicable in a number of areas of research. In addition to the wide-spread interest in ionic liquids, there has also been an exciting growth in investigations related to deep eutectic solvents, which possess many similar features to ionic liquids. Despite this research activity, there are still many fundamental questions that have yet to be answered and that will undoubtedly facilitate their more widespread use in a number of highly interdisciplinary areas.
The 2024 GRC on Ionic Liquids will discuss opportunities for the field in advancing ionic liquids research to address pressing societal challenges related to energy, sustainability, and health. In the area of energy, ionic liquids offer tremendous potential as solvents that can make processes more efficient by harnessing knowledge from fundamental research to design solvents specific to a particular process. Ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents can also address important milestones in improving sustainability, particularly in areas such as chemical synthesis and chemical separations where large volumes of solvents are often required. In the area of health, improved pharmaceuticals are being developed that can treat diseases in a highly specific manner. Ionic liquids can be used as the active pharmaceutical ingredient and can also serve as important vehicles for the delivery of targeted biopharmaceuticals. This meeting will highlight important issues and topics that must be addressed in order to make ionic liquids more readily adopted and transformative technologies. We will discuss current state-of-the art work in computational chemistry and the opportunities that exist for theoretical and computational efforts in machine learning. Opportunities offered by ionic liquid-based polymer systems and solvent templating approaches for guided production or destruction of biopolymers and nanomaterials will be probed. The role of ionic liquids as electrolyte materials for energy applications will be discussed. Conversations related to solvent purity as well as expanding the types of cations and anions – and their ordering at the nanoscale and on surfaces – will also be held. As was true for all meetings from previous years, we envision that the discussions held at the 2024 meeting will create many questions that will ultimately lead to new areas of study within the field. We hope that you can come and participate in these discussions within this highly thriving and welcoming community!
The topics, speakers, and discussion leaders for the conference sessions are displayed below. The conference chair is currently developing their detailed program, which will include the complete meeting schedule, as well as the talk titles for all speakers. The detailed program will be available by April 6, 2024. Please check back for updates.
Addressing Energy Challenges Using Ionic Liquids
Discussion Leaders
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James Davis (University of South Alabama, United States)
Speakers
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Maria Forsyth (Deakin University, Australia)
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Patricia Hunt (Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand)
Ionic Liquids in Carbon Capture and Sustainable Technologies
Discussion Leaders
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Michelle Kidder (Oak Ridge National Lab, United States)
Speakers
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Rosa Cuellar-Franca (The University of Manchester, United Kingdom)
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Tugba Turnaoglu (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States)
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Kosuke Kuroda (Kanazawa University, Japan)
Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectics Solvents as Therapeutics and Biopharmaceuticals
Discussion Leaders
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Eden Tanner (University of Mississippi, United States)
Speakers
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Samir Mitragotri (Harvard University, United States)
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Kevin Clark (Tufts University, United States)
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Jindal Shah (Oklahoma State University, United States)
Energy Storage Applications Using Ionic Liquids
Discussion Leaders
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Paul Trulove (United States Naval Academy, United States)
Speakers
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Matthew Panzer (Tufts University, United States)
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Karina Shimizu (University of Lisbon, Portugal)
Understanding Structure and Dynamics Within Ionic Liquids
Discussion Leaders
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Matthew Gebbie (University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States)
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Daniel Kuroda (Louisiana State University, United States)
Speakers
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Scott Shaw (University of Iowa, United States)
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James Cosby (University of Tennessee Southern, United States)
Ionic Liquids in Separations Science and Chemical Analysis
Discussion Leaders
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Paula Berton (University of Calgary, Canada)
Speakers
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Veronica Pino (Universidad de La Laguna, Spain)
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Sheng Dai (Oak Ridge National Laboratory/University of Tennessee, United States)
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Burcu Gurkan (Case Western Reserve University, United States)
Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents in Synthetic and Natural Polymer Systems
Discussion Leaders
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Julia Shamshina (Texas Tech University, United States)
Speakers
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David Mecerreyes (POLYMAT University of the Basque Country, Spain)
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Luke Haverhals (Bradley University, United States)
Ionic Liquids and Deep Eutectic Solvents in Nanomaterials and Rare Earth Elements
Discussion Leaders
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Tanya Prozorov (US DOE Ames National Laboratory, United States)
Speakers
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Anja Mudring (Aarhus University, Denmark)
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Gary Baker (University of Missouri, United States)
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James Wishart (Brookhaven National Laboratory, United States)
Late Breaking Topics
Discussion Leaders
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Claudio Margulis (University of Iowa, United States)
Speakers
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Maariyah Y Suleman (Imperial College London, United Kingdom)
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Oliver Hammond (Aarhus University, Denmark)
The GRC Power Hour™
Organizers
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Claudio Margulis (University of Iowa, United States)
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Eden Tanner (University of Mississippi, United States)