Dr. NATALIA V. PLECHKOVA attained her BSc and MSc in chemical engineering at the Russian Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology, Moscow, and her PhD in chemistry, under the guidance of Professor Seddon. Since then she has been a research fellow and project manager in the QUILL (Queen's University Ionic Liquid Laboratories) Research Centre, focussing on various aspects of ionic liquids, including their synthesis, characterisation, and applications (including biomass dissolution and carbon dioxide capture).

Prof. KENNETH R. SEDDON, OBE is Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at the Queen's University of Belfast, and director of the QUILL Research Centre, the world-leading industrial-academic consortium that was awarded the 2006 Queens's Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education, and was involved with implementing a full-scale process for removing mercury from natural gas streams with Petronas, for which an unprecedented three global IChemE awards (2013), and the Nicklin medal, along with the 'Teamwork in Innovation' Award (2014) from the Royal Society of Chemistry were presented.