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Wang J, Li H, Warr GG, Chen F, Atkin R. Nanostructure and Dynamics of Aprotic Ionic Liquids at Graphite Electrodes as a Function of Potential. SMALL (WEINHEIM AN DER BERGSTRASSE, GERMANY) 2024:e2311353. [PMID: 38573945 DOI: 10.1002/smll.202311353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/06/2024]
Abstract
Atomic force microscope (AFM) videos reveal the near-surface nanostructure and dynamics of the ionic liquids (ILs) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (BMIM DCA) and 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide (HMIM DCA) above highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes as a function of surface potential. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations reveal the molecular-level composition of the nanostructures. In combination, AFM and MD show that the near-surface aggregates form via solvophobic association of the cation alkyl chains at the electrode interface. The diffusion coefficients of interfacial nanostructures are ≈0.01 nm2 s-1 and vary with the cation alkyl chain length and the surface potential. For each IL, the nanostructure diffusion coefficients are similar at open-circuit potential (OCP) and OCP + 1V, but BMIM DCA moves about twice as fast as HMIM DCA. At negative potentials, the diffusion coefficient decreases for BMIM DCA and increases for HMIM DCA. When the surface potential is switched from negative to positive, a sudden change in the direction of the nanostructure motion is observed for both BMIM DCA and HMIM DCA. No transient dynamics are noted following other potential jumps. This study provides a new fundamental understanding regarding the dynamics of electrochemically stable ILs at electrodes vital for the rational development of IL-based electrochemical devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jianan Wang
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Hua Li
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
- Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
| | - Gregory G Warr
- School of Chemistry and Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia
| | - Fangfang Chen
- Institute for Frontier Materials (IFM), Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, VIC, 3216, Australia
| | - Rob Atkin
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia
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An R, Laaksonen A, Wu M, Zhu Y, Shah FU, Lu X, Ji X. Atomic force microscopy probing interactions and microstructures of ionic liquids at solid surfaces. NANOSCALE 2022; 14:11098-11128. [PMID: 35876154 DOI: 10.1039/d2nr02812c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Ionic liquids (ILs) are room temperature molten salts that possess preeminent physicochemical properties and have shown great potential in many applications. However, the use of ILs in surface-dependent processes, e.g. energy storage, is hindered by the lack of a systematic understanding of the IL interfacial microstructure. ILs on the solid surface display rich ordering, arising from coulombic, van der Waals, solvophobic interactions, etc., all giving near-surface ILs distinct microstructures. Therefore, it is highly important to clarify the interactions of ILs with solid surfaces at the nanoscale to understand the microstructure and mechanism, providing quantitative structure-property relationships. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) opens a surface-sensitive way to probe the interaction force of ILs with solid surfaces in the layers from sub-nanometers to micrometers. Herein, this review showcases the recent progress of AFM in probing interactions and microstructures of ILs at solid interfaces, and the influence of IL characteristics, surface properties and external stimuli is thereafter discussed. Finally, a summary and perspectives are established, in which, the necessities of the quantification of IL-solid interactions at the molecular level, the development of in situ techniques closely coupled with AFM for probing IL-solid interfaces, and the combination of experiments and simulations are argued.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rong An
- Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Aatto Laaksonen
- Energy Engineering, Division of Energy Science, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
- Department of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Arrhenius Laboratory, Stockholm University, SE-10691 Stockholm, Sweden
- Center of Advanced Research in Bionanoconjugates and Biopolymers, "Petru Poni" Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry, Iasi 700469, Romania
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Muqiu Wu
- Herbert Gleiter Institute of Nanoscience, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
| | - Yudan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Faiz Ullah Shah
- Chemistry of Interfaces, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden
| | - Xiaohua Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 211816, China
| | - Xiaoyan Ji
- Energy Engineering, Division of Energy Science, Luleå University of Technology, 97187 Luleå, Sweden.
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Self-assembled nanostructure induced in deep eutectic solvents via an amphiphilic hydrogen bond donor. J Colloid Interface Sci 2022; 616:121-128. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2022.02.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2022] [Revised: 02/01/2022] [Accepted: 02/06/2022] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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Zhang Y, Marlow JB, Millar W, Aman ZM, Silvester DS, Warr GG, Atkin R, Li H. Nanostructure, electrochemistry and potential-dependent lubricity of the catanionic surface-active ionic liquid [P 6,6,6,14] [AOT]. J Colloid Interface Sci 2022; 608:2120-2130. [PMID: 34752982 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2021.10.120] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2021] [Revised: 10/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
HYPOTHESIS A catanionic surface-active ionic liquid (SAIL) trihexyltetradecylphosphonium 1,4-bis(2-ethylhexoxy)-1,4-dioxobutane-2-sulfonate ([P6,6,6,14] [AOT]) is nanostructured in the bulk and at the interface. The interfacial nanostructure and lubricity may be changed by applying a potential. EXPERIMENTS The bulk structure and viscosity have been investigated using small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and rheometry. The interfacial structure and lubricity as a function of potential have been investigated using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The electrochemistry has been investigated using cyclic voltammetry. FINDINGS [P6,6,6,14] [AOT] shows sponge-like bulk nanostructure with distinct interdigitation of cation-anion alkyl chains. Shear-thinning occurs at 293 K and below, but becomes less obvious on heating up to 313 K. Voltammetric analysis reveals that the electrochemical window of [P6,6,6,14] [AOT] on a gold micro disk electrode exceeds the potential range of the AFM experiments and that negligible redox activity occurs in this range. The interfacial layered structure of [P6,6,6,14] [AOT] is weaker than conventional ILs and SAILs, whereas lubricity is better, confirming the inverse correlation between the near-surface structure and lubricity. The adhesive forces of [P6,6,6,14] [AOT] are lower at -1.0 V than at open circuit potential and +1.0 V, likely due to reduced electrostatic interactions caused by shielding of charge centres via long alkyl chains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yunxiao Zhang
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Joshua B Marlow
- School of Chemistry and Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Wade Millar
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Zachary M Aman
- Fluid Science and Resources Division, School of Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Debbie S Silvester
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth 6845, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Gregory G Warr
- School of Chemistry and Sydney Nano Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Rob Atkin
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
| | - Hua Li
- School of Molecular Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia; Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
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Ludwig M, von Klitzing R. Recent progress in measurements of oscillatory forces and liquid properties under confinement. Curr Opin Colloid Interface Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cocis.2020.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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Sakai K, Okada K, Misono T, Endo T, Abe M, Sakai H. Characterizing solid/ionic liquid interfaces in the presence of water and nonionic surfactants. Colloids Surf A Physicochem Eng Asp 2016. [DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2016.09.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
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Amith WD, Hettige JJ, Castner EW, Margulis CJ. Structures of Ionic Liquids Having Both Anionic and Cationic Octyl Tails: Lamellar Vacuum Interface vs Sponge-Like Bulk Order. J Phys Chem Lett 2016; 7:3785-3790. [PMID: 27607189 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.6b01763] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Numerous experimental and computational studies have shown that the structure of ionic liquids is significantly influenced by confinement and by interactions with interfaces. The nature of the interface can affect the immediate ordering of cations and anions, changing important rheological characteristics relevant to lubrication. Most studies suggest that such changes are local or short-ranged and that bulk properties are reestablished on a length scale of a few nanometers. The current study focuses on the 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium octylsulfate ionic liquid for which both the cation and anion have moderate length linear alkyl tails. For this system, we find that the bulk phase is dominated by the very common sponge-like morphology characteristic of many ionic liquids. However, at the vacuum interface, a lamellar structure is observed that is not restricted to the vicinity of the surface but instead extends across the full 9 nm slab of our simulation. We suspect that in reality it could extend significantly beyond this.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Jeevapani J Hettige
- Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
| | - Edward W Castner
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , Piscataway, New Jersey 08854, United States
| | - Claudio J Margulis
- Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa , Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Hayes
- Discipline
of Chemistry, The University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Callaghan, Australia
| | - Gregory G. Warr
- School
of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Sydney, Australia
| | - Rob Atkin
- Discipline
of Chemistry, The University of Newcastle, NSW 2308, Callaghan, Australia
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Elbourne A, Cronshaw S, Voïtchovsky K, Warr GG, Atkin R. Near surface properties of mixtures of propylammonium nitrate with n-alkanols 1. Nanostructure. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2015; 17:26621-8. [DOI: 10.1039/c5cp04786b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
In situ amplitude modulated-atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) has been used to probe the nanostructure of mixtures of propylammonium nitrate (PAN) with n-alkanols near a mica surface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Elbourne
- Discipline of Chemistry
- The University of Newcastle
- Callaghan
- Australia
| | - Samuel Cronshaw
- Discipline of Chemistry
- The University of Newcastle
- Callaghan
- Australia
| | | | | | - Rob Atkin
- Discipline of Chemistry
- The University of Newcastle
- Callaghan
- Australia
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