Thermal, chemical, electrochemical, radiolytic and biological stability of ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents

Ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) are regarded as two kinds of novel solvents with high tunability and they exist in liquid-state for a wide range of temperature....

Thermal Stability of Ionic Liquids: Current Status and Prospects for Future Development

Ionic liquids (ILs) are the safest solvent in various high-temperature applications due to their non-flammable properties. In order to obtain their thermal stability properties, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) is extensively used to analyze the kinetics of the thermal decomposition process. This review summarizes the different kinetics analysis methods and finds the isoconversional methods are superior to the Arrhenius methods in calculating the activation energy, and two tools—the compensation effect and master plots—are suggested for the calculation of the pre-exponential factor. With both parameters, the maximum operating temperature (MOT) can be calculated to predict the thermal stability in long-term runnings. The collection of thermal stability data of ILs with divergent cations and anions shows the structure of cations such as alkyl side chains, functional groups, and alkyl substituents will affect the thermal stability, but their influence is less than that of anions. To develop ILs with superior thermal stability, dicationic ILs (DILs) are recommended, and typically, [C4(MIM)2][NTf2]2 has a decomposition temperature as high as 468.1 °C. For the convenience of application, thermal stability on the decomposition temperature and thermal decomposition activation energy of 130 ILs are summarized at the end of this manuscript.

Operando Determination of the Thermal Decomposition of Supported Ionic Liquids by a Radio-Frequency-Based Method

The analysis of the thermal stability of supported ionic liquids (ILs) is of great interest for their application in catalysis. However, thermogravimetric (TG) measurements are very time-consuming, destructive, and cannot be conducted operando. Therefore, a new radio-frequency (RF)-based method is presented that analyzes the electrical properties of supported ILs in the microwave range and can detect a possible IL mass loss caused by evaporation or decomposition. In this study, the decomposition of supported 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([BMIM][DMP]) with and without palladium (as an active metal) is investigated operando during the selective hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene. In addition to volatile decomposition products, solid products are formed, which remain on the carrier. These solid products impair the activity of the Pd catalyst. Using the RF-based method, a distinction can be made between "intact" IL and the solid decomposition products because the electrical properties of both substances differ substantially. In contrast, the destructive TG analysis only measures the mass loss by the formation of gaseous decomposition products and thus cannot distinguish between "intact" IL and the solid decomposition products of [BMIM][DMP]. In addition, a model of the thermal decomposition which depicts the measured mass losses well is presented.

Thermal stability of dialkylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and hexafluorophosphate ionic liquids: ex situ bulk heating to complement in situ mass spectrometry

Thermal decomposition (TD) products of the ionic liquids (ILs) [CnC1Im][BF4] and [CnC1Im][PF6] ([CnC1Im]+ = 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium, [BF4]- = tetrafluoroborate, and [PF6]- = hexafluorophosphate) were prepared, ex situ, by bulk heating experiments in a bespoke setup. The respective products, CnC1(C3N2H2)BF3 and CnC1(C3N2H2)PF5 (1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium-2-trifluoroborate and 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium-2-pentafluorophosphate), were then vaporized and analyzed by direct insertion mass spectrometry (DIMS) in order to identify their characteristic MS signals. During IL DIMS experiments we were subsequently able, in situ, to identify and monitor signals due to both IL vaporization and IL thermal decomposition. These decomposition products have not been observed in situ during previous analytical vaporization studies of similar ILs. The ex situ preparation of TD products is therefore perfectly complimentary to in situ thermal stability measurements. Experimental parameters such as sample surface area to volume ratios are consequently very important for ILs that show competitive vaporization and thermal decomposition. We have explained these experimental factors in terms of Langmuir evaporation and Knudsen effusion-like conditions, allowing us to draw together observations from previous studies to make sense of the literature on IL thermal stability. Hence, the design of experimental setups are crucial and previously overlooked experimental factors.

Thermal stability of trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride

The thermal stability of the ionic liquid Cyphos IL 101 was investigated under various experimental conditions for possible high-temperature applications.

Quantifying intermolecular interactions of ionic liquids using cohesive energy densities

For ionic liquids (ILs), both the large number of possible cation + anion combinations and their ionic nature provide a unique challenge for understanding intermolecular interactions. Cohesive energy density, ced, is used to quantify the strength of intermolecular interactions for molecular liquids, and is determined using the enthalpy of vaporization. A critical analysis of the experimental challenges and data to obtain ced for ILs is provided. For ILs there are two methods to judge the strength of intermolecular interactions, due to the presence of multiple constituents in the vapour phase of ILs. Firstly, ced_IP, where the ionic vapour constituent is neutral ion pairs, the major constituent of the IL vapour. Secondly, ced_C+A, where the ionic vapour constituents are isolated ions. A ced_IP dataset is presented for 64 ILs. For the first time an experimental ced_C+A, a measure of the strength of the total intermolecular interaction for an IL, is presented. ced_C+A is significantly larger for ILs than ced for most molecular liquids, reflecting the need to break all of the relatively strong electrostatic interactions present in ILs. However, the van der Waals interactions contribute significantly to IL volatility due to the very strong electrostatic interaction in the neutral ion pair ionic vapour. An excellent linear correlation is found between ced_IP and the inverse of the molecular volume. A good linear correlation is found between IL ced_IP and IL Gordon parameter (which are dependent primarily on surface tension). ced values obtained through indirect methods gave similar magnitude values to ced_IP. These findings show that ced_IP is very important for understanding IL intermolecular interactions, in spite of ced_IP not being a measure of the total intermolecular interactions of an IL. In the outlook section, remaining challenges for understanding IL intermolecular interactions are outlined.

Stability studies of ionic liquid [EMIm][NTf2] under short-term thermal exposure

Mass spectrometer coupled TG analysis was used to identify decomposition products of thermally highly stressed ionic liquids.