Ionic

"The ionic liquid is a solvent, like water, but is made entirely of ions," says Dickey.

They observed that tumour growth decreased with the ionic treatment but not with the daily-dose approach, even though the latter was twice as strong.

"Specifically, these molecules introduce in-plane hydrogen bonding that is compatible with both the ionic nature and octahedron spacing of halide perovskites," she said.

These bonds hold atoms together when electrons are shared between the atoms, rather than the 'ionic' interaction between positive and negatively charged ions.

They have been shown to control the local ionic and metabotropic environment in the brain.