The Dielectric Response of Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids: Effect of Cation Variation

Ionic Pairing and Selective Solvation of Butylmethylimidazolium Chloride Ion Pairs in DMSO-Water Mixtures: A Comprehensive Examination via Molecular Dynamics Simulations and Potentials of Mean Force Analysis

Ionic liquids (ILs) with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and water act as a promising solvent medium for the dissolution of cellulose in an efficient manner. To develop a proper solvent system, it is really important to understand the thermodynamics of the molecular solutions consisting of ILs, DMSO, and water. The ion-pairing propensity of the ILs in the presence of DMSO and water plays a crucial role in governing the property of the solvent mixtures. Employing all-atom molecular dynamics simulations, we estimate the potentials of mean force between BMIM+ and Cl- ions in DMSO-water mixtures. Analysis reveals a significant increase in the thermodynamic stability of both contact ion pair (CIP) and solvent-assisted ion pair (SAIP) states with a rising DMSO mole fraction. Thermodynamic assessments highlight the entropic stabilization of CIP states and SAIP states in pure water, in DMSO-water mixtures, and in pure DMSO. The structural analysis reveals that in comparison to the DMSO local density, the local water density is relatively very high around ion pairs, more specifically in the solvation shell of a chloride ion. Preferential binding coefficients also consistently indicate exclusion of DMSO from the ion pair in DMSO-water mixtures. To enhance our understanding regarding the solvent molecules kinetics around the ion pairs, the survival probabilities of DMSO and water are computed. The calculations reveal that the water molecules prefer a prolonged stay in the solvation shell of Cl- ions.

Multicomponent Covalent Organic Framework Solid Electrolyte Allowing Effective Li-Ion Dissociation and Diffusion for All-Solid-State Batteries

Organic solid electrolytes compatible with all-solid-state Li metal batteries (LMBs) are essential to ensuring battery safety, high energy density, and long-term cycling performance. However, it remains a challenge to develop an approach to provide organic solid electrolytes with capabilities for the facile dissociation of strong Li-ion pairs and fast transport of ionic components. Herein, a diethylene glycol-modified pyridinium covalent organic framework (DEG-PMCOF) with a well-defined periodic structure is prepared as a multicomponent solid electrolyte with a cationic moiety of high polarity, an additional flexible ion-transporter, and an ordered ionic channel for all-solid-state LMBs. The DEG-containing pyridinium groups of DEG-PMCOF allow a lower dissociation energy of Li salts and a smaller energy barrier of Li-ion transport, leading to high ion conductivity (1.71 × 10-4 S cm-1) and a large Li-ion transfer number (0.61) at room temperature in the solid electrolyte. The DEG-PMCOF solid electrolyte exhibits a wide electrochemical stability window and effectively suppresses the formation of Li dendrites and dead Li in all-solid-state LMBs. Molecular dynamics and density functional theory simulations provide insights into the mechanisms for the enhanced Li-ion transport driven by the integrated diffusion process based on hopping motion, vehicle motion, and free diffusion of DEG-PMCOF. The all-solid-state LMB assembled with a DEG-PMCOF solid electrolyte displays a high specific capacity with a retention of 99% and an outstanding Coulombic efficiency of 99% at various C-rates during long-term cycling. This DEG-PMCOF approach can offer an effective route to design various solid-state Li batteries.

Dielectric relaxation and dielectric decrement in ionic acetamide deep eutectic solvents: Spectral decomposition and comparison with experiments

Frequency-dependent dielectric relaxation in three deep eutectic solvents (DESs), (acetamide+LiClO4/NO3/Br), was investigated in the temperature range, 329 ≤ T/K ≤ 358, via molecular dynamics simulations. Subsequently, decomposition of the real and the imaginary components of the simulated dielectric spectra was carried out to separate the rotational (dipole-dipole), translational (ion-ion), and ro-translational (dipole-ion) contributions. The dipolar contribution, as expected, was found to dominate all the frequency-dependent dielectric spectra over the entire frequency regime, while the other two components together made tiny contributions only. The translational (ion-ion) and the cross ro-translational contributions appeared in the THz regime in contrast to the viscosity-dependent dipolar relaxations that dominated the MHz-GHz frequency window. Our simulations predicted, in agreement with experiments, anion-dependent decrement of the static dielectric constant (ɛs ∼ 20 to 30) for acetamide (ɛs ∼ 66) in these ionic DESs. Simulated dipole-correlations (Kirkwood g factor) indicated significant orientational frustrations. The frustrated orientational structure was found to be associated with the anion-dependent damage of the acetamide H-bond network. Single dipole reorientation time distributions suggested slowed down acetamide rotations but did not indicate presence of any "rotationally frozen" molecule. The dielectric decrement is, therefore, largely static in origin. This provides a new insight into the ion dependence of the dielectric behavior of these ionic DESs. A good agreement between the simulated and the experimental timescales was also noticed.

Crosslinking Methodology for Imidazole-Grafted Silicone Elastomers Allowing for Dielectric Elastomers Operated at Low Electrical Fields with High Strains

For improved actuation at low voltages of dielectric elastomers, a high dielectric permittivity has been targeted for several years but most successful methods then either increase the stiffness of the elastomer and/or introduce notable losses of both mechanical and dielectric nature. For polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based elastomers, most high-permittivity moieties inhibit the sensitive platinum catalyst used in the addition curing scheme. In contrast to the classical addition curing pathway to prepare PDMS elastomers, here, an alternative strategy is reported to prepare PDMS elastomers via the crosslinking reaction between multifunctional imidazole-grafted PDMS with difunctional bis(1-ethylene-imidazole-3-ium) bromide ionic liquid (bis-IL). The prepared IL-elastomer entails uniformly dispersed IL and presents stable mechanical and dielectric properties due to the covalent nature of the crosslinking as opposed to previously reported physical mixing in of ILs. The relative permittivity was improved up to 200% by including the bis-IL in the elastomer, and Young's modulus was around 0.04 MPa. As a result of the excellent combination of properties, the dielectric actuator developed exhibits an area strain of 20% at 15 V/μm. The novel strategy to prepare PDMS elastomers provides a new paradigm for achieving high-performance dielectric elastomer actuators by a simple methodology.

How the cation size impacts on the relaxational and diffusional dynamics of supercooled butylammonium-based ionic liquids: DPEBA–TFSI versus BTMA–TFSI

Li-bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide based ionic liquids with either butyl-trimethylammonium or N,N-dimethyl-N-(2-(propionyloxy)-ethyl)butan-1-ammonium as the anion were studied using proton and fluorine relaxometry as well as using field-gradient diffusometry to gain separate access to cation and anion dynamics in these compounds. The transport parameters obtained for these ionic liquids are compared with the estimates based on the conductivity data from literature and from the present work. The impact of cation size on correlation effects, the latter parameterized in terms of various Haven ratios, is mapped out.

Highly Sensitive Flexible Pressure Sensors Enabled by Mixing of Silicone Elastomer With Ionic Liquid-Grafted Silicone Oil

Developing highly sensitive flexible pressure sensors has become crucially urgent due to the increased societal demand for wearable electronic devices capable of monitoring various human motions. The sensitivity of such sensors has been shown to be significantly enhanced by increasing the relative dielectric permittivity of the dielectric layers used in device construction via compositing with immiscible ionic conductors. Unfortunately, however, the elastomers employed for this purpose possess inhomogeneous morphologies, and thus suffer from poor long-term durability and unstable electrical response. In this study, we developed a novel, flexible, and highly sensitive pressure sensor using an elastomeric dielectric layer with particularly high permittivity and homogeneity due to the addition of synthesized ionic liquid-grafted silicone oil (denoted LMS-EIL). LMS-EIL possesses both a very high relative dielectric permittivity (9.6 × 105 at 10-1 Hz) and excellent compatibility with silicone elastomers due to the covalently connected structure of conductive ionic liquid (IL) and chloropropyl silicone oil. A silicone elastomer with a relative permittivity of 22 at 10-1 Hz, Young's modulus of 0.78 MPa, and excellent homogeneity was prepared by incorporating 10 phr (parts per hundreds rubber) of LMS-EIL into an elastomer matrix. The sensitivity of the pressure sensor produced using this optimized silicone elastomer was 0.51 kPa-1, which is 100 times higher than that of the pristine elastomer. In addition, a high durability illustrated by 100 loading-unloading cycles and a rapid response and recovery time of approximately 60 ms were achieved. The excellent performance of this novel pressure sensor suggests significant potential for use in human interfaces, soft robotics, and electronic skin applications.

Static dielectric permittivity of ionic liquids ultraconfined in carbon nanotubes

In this work the parallel component of the static dielectric permittivity, ϵ II of ionic liquids ultraconfined into flexible carbon nanotubes of radius of 1.2 nm and 2.4 nm is evaluated from molecular dynamics simulations. We show an enhancement of ϵ II with respect to bulk value and a counter-intuitive temperature dependence. Indeed an increase of ϵ II as a function of the temperature opposed to a bulk behavior is evidenced. Increase in ϵ II is the result of the strong orientation of ionic liquid close to the pore wall. The temperature dependence is the consequence of the thermal fluctuations increasing the dipolar fluctuations such that the strong orientation is conserved. Eventually, we show a molecular stacking between [C4mim+][Tf2N−] and CNT decreasing dipolar fluctuations close to the CNT surface reducing ϵ II .

Visualization of microwave near-field distribution in sodium chloride and glucose aqueous solutions by a thermo-elastic optical indicator microscope

In this study, a new optical method is presented to determine the concentrations of NaCl and glucose aqueous solutions by using a thermo-elastic optical indicator microscope. By measuring the microwave near-field distribution intensity, concentration changes of NaCl and glucose aqueous solutions were detected in the 0-100 mg/ml range, when exposed to microwave irradiation at 12 GHz frequency. Microwave near-field distribution intensity decreased as the NaCl or glucose concentration increased due to the changes of the absorption properties of aqueous solution. This method provides a novel approach for monitoring NaCl and glucose in biological liquids by using a CCD sensor capable of visualizing NaCl and glucose concentrations without scanning.

Microstructural and Dynamical Heterogeneities in Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a special category of molten salts solely composed of ions with varied molecular symmetry and charge delocalization. The versatility in combining varied cation-anion moieties and in functionalizing ions with different atoms and molecular groups contributes to their peculiar interactions ranging from weak isotropic associations to strong, specific, and anisotropic forces. A delicate interplay among intra- and intermolecular interactions facilitates the formation of heterogeneous microstructures and liquid morphologies, which further contributes to their striking dynamical properties. Microstructural and dynamical heterogeneities of ILs lead to their multifaceted properties described by an inherent designer feature, which makes ILs important candidates for novel solvents, electrolytes, and functional materials in academia and industrial applications. Due to a massive number of combinations of ion pairs with ion species having distinct molecular structures and IL mixtures containing varied molecular solvents, a comprehensive understanding of their hierarchical structural and dynamical quantities is of great significance for a rational selection of ILs with appropriate properties and thereafter advancing their macroscopic functionalities in applications. In this review, we comprehensively trace recent advances in understanding delicate interplay of strong and weak interactions that underpin their complex phase behaviors with a particular emphasis on understanding heterogeneous microstructures and dynamics of ILs in bulk liquids, in mixtures with cosolvents, and in interfacial regions.

Solvation heterogeneity in ionic liquids as demonstrated by photo-chemical reactions

It has been recognised that ionic liquids (ILs) with long alkyl-chains have a segregated structure due to the inhomogeneous distribution of polar parts and non-polar parts. This inhomogeneity of ILs brings about unique solvation phenomena of solute molecules dissolved in ILs. We have investigated various solvation-state selective phenomena by using laser spectroscopic techniques such as solvation state selective vibrational spectroscopy, translational and rotational dynamics of small molecules in ILs, and solvation state selective fundamental chemical reactions. In this paper, we have reviewed an intramolecular electron transfer (ET) reaction in the Marcus inverted region of N,N-dimethyl-p-nitroaniline and an intramolecular proton transfer (IPT) reaction in 4′-N,N-diethylamino-3-hydroxyflavone as examples of chemical reactions affected by unique solvation in ILs.

Cu carbonyls enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water–gas shift catalysts: a combined in situ DRIFTS and DFT study

In situ DRIFT spectroscopy and DFT identify Cu carbonyl shuttles that enhance the performance of Ru-based SILP water–gas shift catalysts.

Spatial and thermal signatures of α and β relaxations in glassy and glacial aliphatic ionic liquids

The competition between Coulomb and van der Waals interactions brings forth unique dynamic features and broad applications to ionic liquids. Herein, we present a combined calorimetric, X-ray diffraction, incoherent elastic, and quasi-elastic neutron scattering study, over a wide temperature range (180-340 K), of the relaxational dynamics of the liquid, supercooled liquid, crystalline, glassy, and glacial states of two model ionic liquids: tributylmethylammonium (a good glass-former) and butyltrimethylammonium (a good crystal-former) cations and the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anion. In both systems, we observed two distinct relaxation processes. The Q-dependence of the respective relaxation time shows that the α-process is diffusive, while the β-process is modulated by the structure of the liquids.

Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of electroactive IoNanofluids with high dielectric constants from hydrated ferrous sulphate

An iron oxide based-electroactive IoNanofluid with a high dielectric constant, high stability and low viscosity was synthesized from ferrous sulphate heptahydrate via a facile microwave assisted one-step route in 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium chloride.

Ionic conductivity of deep eutectic solvents: the role of orientational dynamics and glassy freezing

Dielectric spectroscopy reveals that the ionic conductivity of deep eutectic solvents is closely coupled to their reorientational dipolar relaxation dynamics.

Chemoselective reduction of heteroarenes with a reduced graphene oxide supported rhodium nanoparticle catalyst

Rhodium nanoparticles immobilized on reduced graphene oxide catalyze the selective hydrogenation of N- and O-containing heteroarenes.

Ultrasonic Relaxation Spectra for Pyrrolidinium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides: A Comparison with Imidazolium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides

Ultrasound absorption spectra within the frequency range 10-300 MHz were determined for 1-propyl- and 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides at ambient pressure and at temperatures in the ranges 293.15-313.15 and 293.15-323.15 K, respectively. For both compounds, a single Debye model (relaxation times between 0.451 and 0.778 ns) thoroughly describes the observed ultrasound absorption spectra in the investigated ranges. The spectra resemble those observed for imidazolium-based ionic liquids with the same anion. The ultrasound relaxation is dependent on the alkyl chain length of pyrrolidinium ring. In comparison to adequate imidazolium-based bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides, the relaxation in pyrrolidinium-based bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imides is stronger; the pyrrolidinium cation causes clearly greater absorption than the imidazolium cation. Also, estimated ultrasound velocity dispersion is stronger in the case of pyrrolidinium imides in comparison to imidazolium imides. In turn, comparison of the ultrasonic data and literature data for the dielectric spectra exemplified for the 1-butyl- side chain in the cation indicates strong coupling in the case of imidazolium ring and weak coupling in the case of pyrrolidinium ring. The effect of absorption on the speed of sound is also discussed.

Origin of heterogeneous dynamics in local molecular structures of ionic liquids

Room-temperature ionic liquids (ILs) are generally considered as structurally heterogeneous with inherent polar/apolar phase separation. However, even after a decade of research, local dynamics in the heterogeneous structures of ILs remain neglected. Such local dynamics may influence the ion transport of electrolytes, as well as the reaction rate of solvents. In this study, we performed molecular dynamics simulation to analyze the local dynamics for the structural heterogeneity of ILs. Calculations of the diffusion, reorientation, and association dynamics showed a distinct heterogeneous dynamics between the polar and apolar regions of ILs. Further studies demonstrated that such local dynamic differences originate from local structural heterogeneity. Different energy barriers determine a predominant fast reorientation dynamics in apolar regions and a locally vibrating behavior in polar regions. Additionally, we suggested a new jumping mechanism to clarify the dynamic heterogeneity of ions in the polar regions. The results will help determine the origin of the heterogeneous dynamics in IL local structures and provide a theoretical basis for tuning the dynamic properties of ILs used as electrolytes or reaction solvents.

Electrochemical Oxidation of Hydrogen in Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquids under Anaerobic and Aerobic Conditions

The electrochemical behavior of hydrogen oxidation on a platinum electrode in two aprotic room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs)-1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Bmim][NTf₂] and 1-butyl-1-methyl-pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [Bmpy][NTf₂]-was investigated in both anaerobic and aerobic conditions. At platinum electrode in the ILs, the first step of hydrogen oxidation is the formation of Pt-H(ad) (the Tafel step), which is similar to those observed in the aqueous electrolytes. However, there are differences in the oxidation steps (the Heyrovsky and Volmer steps). In ILs, the oxidation of Pt-H(ad) forms a hydrogen radical and a proton rather than a proton or a water in aqueous acid or alkaline electrolytes, respectively. This difference is significant as it results in a completely different following reaction pathway in the anaerobic vs aerobic conditions. A coupled chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen oxidation intermediates was observed in aerobic conditions which has a correlation with hydrogen concentrations. Furthermore, the overall rate of hydrogen oxidation is shown to be much higher in [Bmpy][NTf₂] than that of [Bmim][NTf₂], which is rationalized as the result of both higher solubility of hydrogen and the unique IL-electrode interface structure which promotes the hydrogen adsorption in [Bmpy][NTf₂] than that of [Bmim][NTf₂]. This study is the first example showing that hydrogen oxidation mechanism in aprotic ILs follows two different oxidation mechanisms in anaerobic and aerobic conditions.