Ionic liquids in surface electrochemistry

Ionic liquids (IL) are widely used in electrochemistry due to their excellent properties such as good ionic conductivity, wide electrochemical potential window, high viscosity, high thermal stability, wide liquid range and tunable solvent properties. In electrochemistry, the performance of an electrochemical system is dependent on the properties of the interface at the IL/electrode. This review presents the surface electrochemistry in ILs, and the interfacial structures of IL/electrode and heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics are detailed. Finally, the updated researches on the electrochemical applications of ILs such as electrode deposition, electrosynthesis, electrocatalysis, electrochemical biosensing, electrochemical capacitor and lithium batteries are demonstrated.