Kenneth Seddon obituary
Kenneth Seddon, who has died aged 67 after suffering from cancer, was a pioneering chemist and acknowledged leader of "green chemistry". He led the growth of research into a relatively new area of study, ionic liquids.
Ken did not discover these substances, but in the 1980s he was the first to see that they were an unexplored form of matter with huge potential. Unlike everyday molecular solvents, such as water, acetone (nail varnish remover) or petrol, which are uncharged, these liquid salts consist of disparately shaped positive and negative ions. This gives the liquids high electric fields, and therefore high solubilities. It also means they mostly do not release fumes, evaporate or boil. Ken realised that changing the ion combinations of the material meant trillions of compositions were possible: you could potentially make a liquid to meet any need - viscous or runny, hydrophobic or hydrophilic - that was also environmentally benign, as the material itself could be designed to minimise toxicity or biodegradability issues.
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