Nano-Objects on a Round Trip from Water to Organics in a Polymeric Ionic Liquid Vehicle

Carbon nanotubes, gold nanorods, and silver nanoparticles can be transferred from water to organic solvents and back to water again by using polymeric ionic liquids (PILs) as vehicles (see scheme). The PILs are able to trap several nano-objects during their anion-exchange-induced precipitation in water. This reversible process provides a PIL/nano-object composite that is fully redispersible in organic solvents