1 butyl 3 methylimidazolium chloride

The polymer polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS, Sylgard™ 184 Silicone Elastomer Kit) was purchased from The Dow Chemical Company (Wiesbaden, Germany), and gelatin from bovine skin (gel strength ≈ 225 g; Bloom, Type B) was purchased from Sigma Aldrich (Saint Louis, MO, USA). The liquid crystal 4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB, >98.0%) was purchased from TCI Europe (Zwijndrecht, Belgium). The ionic liquids 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([BMIM][DCA] > 98.0%) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([BMIM][Cl], >98.0%) were purchased from IoLiTec (Heilbronn, Germany). The anhydrous binary salts magnesium chloride (≥98.0%), potassium carbonate (99.9%) and sodium bromide (≥99.0%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Saint Louis, MO, USA); sodium chloride (>99.5%) and the solvents dichloromethane and hexane were purchased from VWR International (Carnaxide, Portugal). Ethanol and acetic acid (purity 99.8%) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (Saint Louis, MO, USA). Acetonitrile (purity 99.9%), chloroform, diethyl ether (HPLC grade), ethyl acetate, heptane, mEthanol (HPLC grade) and toluene were supplied by Fisher Scientific (Waltham, MA, USA). Acetone (purity 99.5%) was purchased from Honeywell (Charlotte, NC, USA), and isopropanol (purity 99.5%) from ROTH (Karlsruhe, Germany).

Microcrystalline cellulose, p-toluenesulfonyl chloride, sodium alginate (SA), 1-methylimidazole, and Polycaprolactone (Mw 70,000–90,000) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich, Milan, italy). Formic acid (85%) and acetic acid (96%) from Edwic, Cairo, Egypt, 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride from IoLiTec (Heilbronn, Germany). No purification was required for chemicals used, being of analytical quality.