Over the past few months, Upper Sixth Chemistry students, Rachel Gibb and Masha Ermakova, have been taking part in cutting edge research about synthesising magnetic ionic liquids for the Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS).    

The students have been researching ionic liquids and their properties to gain a better understanding of these new substances. In their newest experiment, the students have refluxed bromobutane and bromodecane with methyl imidazole, and will then add iron (III) chloride to form a ferro-magnetic liquid. They hope to investigate the effect of carbon chain length on the strength of field formed using magnets. They will be continuing to research different ionic liquids to further compare different compounds, and will be recording their findings.

Masha reflected on the benefits of doing this research: “Having the opportunity to further explore certain experimental techniques and to analyse new compounds has increased my passion for Chemistry, and is preparing me for lab work in University. Being able to contribute to this project outside my A Level learning has allowed me freedom to improve my understanding in new, wider topic areas and to hopefully contribute to the research of ionic liquids.”