MSILDG research meetings are historically informal, interesting, informative and inspiring.
The Molten Salts and Ionic Liquids Discussion Group (MSILDG) will hold their annual Summer Research Meeting at Loughborough University, United Kingdom, on 19th - 20th August, 2025 for two days of discussion on topics across ionic liquids, molten salts, deep eutectic solvents, water-in-salt solutions and related phenomena. These meetings are ideal for students and ECRs and are always informal, informative and fun. Present in person or online, with session times suitable for all time zones.
Invited speakers
Fray Lecture
Nanoporous Ionic Liquids: Opportunities for Energy-Related Applications
Oak Ridge National Laboratory and University of Tennessee, United States
Measurement of Equilibrium Potential of Cl2/Cl- Redox Couple in Molten Chloride
Tohoku University, Japan
Summer Meeting Deadlines
Oral abstract registration: 15th June
Poster abstract registration: 15th June
Abstract deadline extended!
You now have until 13th July to submit your abstract for the MSILDG Summer Meeting
Standard registration: 1st August
Online registration: 10th August
Venue address: Meeting Space 8, Burleigh Court, Loughborough University (West Park), Loughborough, LE11 3GR, United Kingdom
Program
Tuesday 19th August 2025
09:00-10:00 Registration
Session I: 10:00-11:30
Session chair: Dr Ian McPherson
10:00-10:15 Welcome
Prof. George Chen (University of Nottingham)
Invited online talk
10:05-10:50 Measurement of Equilibrium Potential of Cl2/Cl- Redox Couple in Molten Chloride
Prof. Hongmin Zhu (Tohoku University, Japan)
10:50-11:10 Modulating the Acidity of Ammonium Hydrogen Sulfate Protic Ionic Liquids
by Exploiting Cation Structure and Water Content
Dr Richard Matthews (University of East London)
11:10-11:30 Contributed online talk
Predicting Thermophysical Properties of NaF-BeF2-ZrF4 Molten Salt via
Transferable Machine Learning Potentials
Dr Min Bu (Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics)
Coffee break and discussion
Session II: 12:00 – 12:45
Session chair: Dr Ian McPherson
12:00-12:45 Chairman Invited PhD Thesis Presentation (online)
Quest for Functionalized deep eutectic solvent (F-DES) for sustainable growth of clean and renewable energy and societal applications
Dr Ashutosh Srivastava (Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, India)
Lunch
Session III: 14:00-15:20
Session chair: Prof. George Chen
14:00-14:20 Developing structure-activity relationships for thermoswitchable deep eutectic solvents
Dr Cameron Weber (University of Auckland)
14:20-14:40 Sustainable Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) for Use in Antimicrobial
Medical Applications
Dr Emma Smith (Nottingham Trent University)
14:40-15:00 Efficient Biomass Processing with Protic Ionic Liquids: A Cost-Effective Approach
Dr Cariny Polesca (Imperial)
15:00-15:20 Ionic liquid based electrolytes for reversible magnesium deposition
Ms Peiying Fan (University of Nottingham)
Coffee break and discussion
Session IV: 15:50-17:00
Session chair: Prof. George Chen
15:50-15:55 Sponsor talk
Mr Cameron Fordham (Asynt)
15:55-16:15 Ionic fluids Part I - Thermodynamic calculations for plasmas used in industrial and commercial applications
Dr Stuart Mucklejohn (MSILDG)
16:15-16:30 Poster flash talks
16:30-17:00 Poster session
Dinner (19:00-21:00)
Wednesday 20th August 2025
Session V: 09:00-10:40
Session chair: Prof. Anna Croft
09:00-09:20 Contributed online talk
Progress in Energy Applications of Solvate Ionic Liquids (SILs)
Mr Timothy Harte (CSIRO)
09:20-09:40 Contributed online talk
One-step regeneration of photovoltaic tungsten-based busbars by molten salt electrolysis
Dr Xiang Xue (Beijing University of Technology)
09:40-10:40 Fray Lecture
Nanoporous Ionic Liquids: Opportunities for Energy-Related Applications
Prof. Sheng Dai (Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Coffee break and discussion
MSILDG Committee Meeting (11:00 – 12:00)
Session VI: 12:00-13:00
Session chair: Dr Stuart Mucklejohn
12:00-12:20 Old Drugs, New Tricks: A New Approach to Drug Detection using Functional Ionic Liquids
Dr Anthony Fitzpatrick (Nottingham Trent University)
12:20-12:40 Contributed online talk
Ion liquid aided magnesium ion intercalation in vanadium carbide MXene
Mr Yuanzhongze Hu (University of Nottingham)
12:40-13:00 Closed Catalytic Cycle Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis in Molten Salt LiCl-KCl-CsCl Eutectic
Miss Pooja Dhami (Loughborough)
Lunch
Session VII: 14:30-16:00
Session chair: Dr Stuart Mucklejohn
14:30-14:50 Towards implementing ionic liquids in intermediate-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
Mr Pranav Sharda (Queens University, Belfast)
14:50-15:10 Proteins in Alien Environments
Prof. Anna Croft (Loughborough University)
15:10-15:30 Capacitance of mixed electrolyte solutions
Dr Ian McPherson (Loughborough University)
15:30-16:00 Roundtable Discussion
The future role of molten salts and ionic liquids in energy-related technologies
16:00 Closing Remarks
Prof. George Chen