Ionic liquids (ILs) are fluids at room temperature consisting entirely of ions. The character and strength of interactions between cations and anions are responsible for determination of their properties. Therefore, various combinations of cations and anions can be used to obtain desired properties.

Typically, ILs exhibit: low melting point (a consequence of a poorly packed crystallographic system), negligible vapor pressure (a consequence of a strong anion-cation interaction), non-combustibility (consequence of a low vapor pressure), high electrical conductivity (a consequence of an ionic structure), ability to solubilize a wide range of solutes (e.g. organic, inorganic, polymers, enzymes), potential to be reused (easily separable from product/reactant mixtures) etc.
These properties give ILs certain advantages over conventional molecular solvents and a wide range of potential applications that have generated considerable interest in their study.
Among possible applications, ILs can be used as a safer medium for transformations in the nuclear fuel cycle (fuel production, reprocessing, nuclear waste reduction, transportation, etc.). In particular, salts containing boron or chlorine atoms (efficient thermal neutron poisons) are very promising materials. Before ILs can be used in such application, first, it is necessary to characterize their radiation chemistry, such as identification of the radiolytically generated species and their reactivity. Such investigation are main goal of our group.