Chemical, genetic and cell biology tools have been used to probe which RNA-protein granules behave like liquids and which behave like solids.

BACKGROUND The biomass recalcitrance resulting from its chemical compositions and physical structures impedes the conversion of biomass into fermentable sugars. Pretreatment is a necessary procedure to increase the cellulase accessibility for bioconversion of lignocelluloses into bioethanol. Alternatively, ionic liquids, a series of promising solvents, provide unique opportunities for pretreati...

Due to its abundance and a wide range of beneficial physical and chemical properties, cellulose has become very popular in order to produce materials for various applications. This review summarizes the recent advances in the development of new cellulose materials and technologies using ionic liquids. Dissolution of cellulose in ionic liquids has been used to develop new processing technologies...

Ionic liquids exhibit a remarkably diverse interfacial chemistry. Recent theoretical and experimental results show that conventional double layers do not form on metal electrodes in ionic liquid systems, rather a multilayer morphology is present. The number of layers and the strength of adsorption are strongly dependent on ionic liquid chemical species, solutes and applied electrode potential. ...