An
ionic liquid (IL) is a
salt in the
liquid state. In some contexts, the term has been restricted to salts whose
melting point is below some arbitrary temperature, such as . While ordinary liquids such as
water and
gasoline are predominantly made of
electrically neutral molecules, ionic liquids are largely made of
ions and short-lived ion pairs. These substances are variously called
liquid electrolytes,
ionic melts,
ionic fluids,
fused salts,
liquid salts, or
ionic glasses. They are known as "solvents of the future" as well as "designer solvents".