272
R. S. Kalb
overcomes most drawbacks associated with conventional ionic liquid syntheses and
minimizes the use of noxious chemicals.
In 2008, M. Maase reported 13 implemented applications of ionic liquids [25].
Today’s 57 implemented applications show a strong increase in commercialization
efforts and offer optimism for future development of ionic liquid markets.
11.4 A Survey on Some Common Statements About Ionic
Liquids
Despite the encouraging increase in commercial ionic liquid applications, there are
still no mass applications, and producers of ionic liquids agree that today’s market
is considerably smaller than anticipated 15 years ago. In this context, statements
like “ionic liquids are too expensive” or “at the end of the day, ionic liquids have
disappointing performance” might be heard in discussions behind closed doors. Are
these and other statements true, and do they explain the slow growth of the ionic liquid
market? To shed light on public opinion, the author performed a survey among 25
academic and industrial leaders in the field of ionic liquids, asking them to rate the
following statements on a Likert scale.
1. Today, commercially available ionic liquids fully meet the technical requirements of the industry.
2. Ionic liquids are much too expensive in general.
3. Regulatory requirements are getting more and more strict and expensive.
4. Today, there is no reliable supply of ionic liquids in larger ton scale.
5. The intellectual property rights landscape got very complicated in the last
decades, and the large number of patents is a roadblock for the breakthrough of
ionic liquids.
6. There is low willingness of enterprises to take risks, especially of large, stocklisted ones.
7. Material compatibility with ionic liquids is challenging.
8. “Hardware is struggling, software is surging”: Until today, there was no sufficiently substantial investment in ionic liquid technology in order to “think
big.”
9. Ionic liquids have passed a hype and are getting mature now; as with any crosstechnological breakthrough, this process takes a long time until substantial
adoption.
10. There is only a low number of convincing, in particular disruptive value
propositions.
11. Ionic liquids are too viscous for most applications.
12. Ionic liquids disappoint in their performance, and they were just overestimated.
13. Most ionic liquids are safer and greener than their molecular counterparts.
14. Though there is a lot of research in ionic liquids, the fraction of strategic, applied
research still is way too small.
R. S. Kalb
overcomes most drawbacks associated with conventional ionic liquid syntheses and
minimizes the use of noxious chemicals.
In 2008, M. Maase reported 13 implemented applications of ionic liquids [25].
Today’s 57 implemented applications show a strong increase in commercialization
efforts and offer optimism for future development of ionic liquid markets.
11.4 A Survey on Some Common Statements About Ionic
Liquids
Despite the encouraging increase in commercial ionic liquid applications, there are
still no mass applications, and producers of ionic liquids agree that today’s market
is considerably smaller than anticipated 15 years ago. In this context, statements
like “ionic liquids are too expensive” or “at the end of the day, ionic liquids have
disappointing performance” might be heard in discussions behind closed doors. Are
these and other statements true, and do they explain the slow growth of the ionic liquid
market? To shed light on public opinion, the author performed a survey among 25
academic and industrial leaders in the field of ionic liquids, asking them to rate the
following statements on a Likert scale.
1. Today, commercially available ionic liquids fully meet the technical requirements of the industry.
2. Ionic liquids are much too expensive in general.
3. Regulatory requirements are getting more and more strict and expensive.
4. Today, there is no reliable supply of ionic liquids in larger ton scale.
5. The intellectual property rights landscape got very complicated in the last
decades, and the large number of patents is a roadblock for the breakthrough of
ionic liquids.
6. There is low willingness of enterprises to take risks, especially of large, stocklisted ones.
7. Material compatibility with ionic liquids is challenging.
8. “Hardware is struggling, software is surging”: Until today, there was no sufficiently substantial investment in ionic liquid technology in order to “think
big.”
9. Ionic liquids have passed a hype and are getting mature now; as with any crosstechnological breakthrough, this process takes a long time until substantial
adoption.
10. There is only a low number of convincing, in particular disruptive value
propositions.
11. Ionic liquids are too viscous for most applications.
12. Ionic liquids disappoint in their performance, and they were just overestimated.
13. Most ionic liquids are safer and greener than their molecular counterparts.
14. Though there is a lot of research in ionic liquids, the fraction of strategic, applied
research still is way too small.