Liquid metal cooled reactor Clementine was the first liquid metal cooled nuclear reactor and used mercury coolant, thought to be the obvious choice since it is liquid at room temperature. However, because of disadvantages including high toxicity, high vapor pressure even at room temperature, low boiling point, producing noxious fumes when heated, relatively low thermal conductivity, and a high neutron cross-section, it has fallen out of favor. Sodium and NaK (a eutectic sodium-potassium alloy) do not corrode steel to any significant degree and are compatible with many nuclear fuels, allowing for a wide choice of structural materials. They do, however, ignite spontaneously on contact
Ionic liquid piston compressor Ionic liquid piston compressor An ionic liquid piston compressor, ionic compressor or ionic liquid piston pump is a hydrogen compressor based on an ionic liquid piston instead of a metal piston as in a piston-metal diaphragm compressor. An ionic liquid compressor takes advantage of two properties of ionic liquids—their virtually non-measurable vapor pressures and large temperature window for the liquid phase—in combination with the low solubility of some gasses ("e.g." hydrogen) in them. This insolubility is exploited by using the body of an ionic liquid to compress hydrogen up to 1000 bar (14,500 psi) in hydrogen filling stations. Linde's ionic