Patent ID: 7886577

Claim:
A device which comprises: (a) a substrate with an exposed surface; and (b) an ionic liquid film which is bound to the exposed surface so as to enable the ionic liquid to absorb an organic chemical which would be absorbed by an unbound film of the ionic liquid, wherein: (i) the ionic liquid film is bound to the surface by a force between the ionic liquid film and one or more polyelectrolytes or conductive polymers on the surface, the force comprising one or more of an electrostatic force, a hydrogen bonding force, a van der Waals force, and an ionic force; and (ii) the ionic liquid film comprises an ionic liquid selected from the group consisting of ionic liquid ammonium salts, ionic liquid phosphonium salts, ionic liquid imidazolium salts, ionic liquid pyrrolidinium salts, and ionic liquid pyridinium salts.