Solvation of Sodium Chloride in the 1-Butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium Bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquid: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Influence of alkali metals on water dynamics inside imidazolium-based ionic liquid nano-domains

The global need to expand the design of energy-storage devices led to the investigation of alkali metal - Ionic Liquid (IL) mixtures as a possible class of electrolytes. In this study, 1D and 2D Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) as well as Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulations were used to study the intermolecular interactions in imidazolium-based IL - water - alkali halide ternary mixtures. The 1H and 23Na 1D and 1H DOSY NMR spectra revealed that the presence of small quantities of NaCl does not influence the aggregation of water molecules in the IL nano-domains. The order of adding ionic compounds to water, as well as the certain water and NaCl molecular ratios, lead to the formation of isolated water clusters. Two ternary solutions representing different orders of compounds mixing (H2O+ IL + NaCl or H2O+ NaCl + IL) showed a strong dependence of the initial solvation shell of Na+ and the self-clustering of water. Furthermore, the behaviour of water was found to be independent from the conditions applied during the solution preparation, such as temperature and/or duration of stirring and aging. These findings could be confirmed by large differences in the amount of ionic species, observed in the ternary solutions and depending on the order of mixing/solute preparation.

Structure, Molecular Interactions, and Dynamics of Aqueous [BMIM][BF4] Mixtures: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Molecular dynamics simulations with many-body polarizable force fields were carried out to investigate the thermodynamic, structural, and dynamic properties of aqueous solutions of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim][BF₄]). The radial distribution functions exhibit well-defined features, revealing favored structural correlations between [bmim]⁺, [BF₄]^-, and H₂O. The addition of water is shown to alter ionic liquid structural organizations by replacing counterions in the coordination shells and disrupt the cation-anion network. At low water concentration, the majority of water molecules are isolated from each other and have lower average dipole moment than that in pure water. With increasing hydration level, while [bmim][BF₄] ionic network breaks up and becomes isolated ion pairs or free ions in the dilute limit, water begins to form clusters of increasing sizes and eventually forms a percolating network. As a result, the average water dipole moment increases and approaches its bulk value. Water is also observed to have a substantial influence on the dynamics of ionic liquids. At low water content, the cation and anion have similar diffusion coefficients due to the correlated ionic motion of long-lived ion pairs. As the water concentration increases, both ions exhibit greater mobility and faster rotations from the breakup of ionic network. Consequently, the ionic conductivity of [bmim][BF₄] aqueous solutions rises with increasing water composition.

Interfacial structuring of non-halogenated imidazolium ionic liquids at charged surfaces: effect of alkyl chain length

Control of the interfacial structures of ionic liquids (ILs) at charged interfaces is important to many of their applications, including in energy storage solutions, sensors and advanced lubrication technologies utilising electric fields.

Structural and dynamic properties of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide/mica and graphite interfaces revealed by molecular dynamics simulation

It has been observed that the properties of room temperature ionic liquids near solid substrates are different from those of bulk liquids, and these properties play an important role in the development of catalysts, lubricants, and electrochemical devices. In this paper, we report microscopic studies of ionic liquid/solid interfaces performed using molecular dynamics simulations. The structural and dynamic properties of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (BMIM-TFSI) on mica and graphite interfaces were thoroughly investigated to elucidate the microscopic origins of the formation of layered structures at the interfaces. Our investigation included the observation of structural and orientational changes of ions as a function of distance from the surfaces, and contour mappings of ions parallel and perpendicular to the surfaces. By virtue of such detailed analyses, we found that, during the 5 ns simulation, the closest layer of BMIM-TFSI behaves as a two-dimensional ionic crystal on mica and as a liquid or liquid crystal on graphite.

Potential dependent changes in the structural and dynamical properties of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide on graphite electrodes revealed by molecular dynamics simulations

Surface distributions and the dynamic properties of an ionic liquid on charged graphite electrodes.

Microscopic properties of ionic liquid/organic semiconductor interfaces revealed by molecular dynamics simulations

Structural and dynamic properties of an ionic liquid are compared on several organic semiconductors.

On the origin of ionicity in ionic liquids. Ion pairing versus charge transfer

In this paper we show by using static DFT calculations and classical molecular dynamics simulations that the charge transfer between ionic liquid ions plays a major role in the observed discrepancies between the overall mobility of the ions and the observed conductivities of the corresponding ionic liquids, while it also directly suppresses the association of oppositely charged ions, thus the ion pairing. Accordingly, in electrochemical applications of these materials it is important to consider this reduction of the total charges on the ions, which can greatly affect the performance of the given process or device in which the ionic liquid is used. By slightly shifting from the salt-like to a molecular liquid-like system via the decreased charges, the charge transfer also fluidizes the ionic liquid. We believe that this vital information on the molecular level structure of ionic liquids offers a better understanding of these materials, and allows us to improve the a priori design of ionic liquids for any given purpose.

Observation of Charge Inversion of an Ionic Liquid at the Solid Salt-Liquid Interface by Sum Frequency Generation Spectroscopy

Sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy of the ionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide [BMIM][DCA], in contact with two different solid salt surfaces, BaF2(111) single crystal and solid NaCl{100}, are discussed in this Letter. This investigation describes the nature of an ionic liquid-(solid) salt interface using SFG, contributing a new understanding to the molecular-level interactions involved in salts, which are conceptually similar compounds (of purely ionic character) but of different physical properties (liquid versus solid at room temperature). Results show the presence of [BMIM](+) at the NaCl{100} surface and [DCA](-) at the BaF2(111) surface. [BMIM](+) cations adhere closely via Coulombic interactions to the negatively charged NaCl{100} surface, while [DCA](-) anions subsequently have a strong electrostatic affinity to the positively charged BaF2(111) surface. Ions of the ionic liquid adsorb to the solid salt surface to form a Helmholtz-like electric double layer.

Ionic charge reduction and atomic partial charges from first-principles calculations of 1,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride

We present a detailed calculation of partial charges for the 1,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid. We first analyze MP2 electronic structure calculations and DFT results on isolated ion pairs with various methods of assigning partial charges to the atomic centers. In a second run we analyze the trajectory of a 25 ps long Car-Parrinello MD run of 30 ion pairs under bulk conditions using a charge fitting procedure due to Blöchl. Both, the single ion pair and the bulk system, provide us with a similar total ionic charge considerably less than unity. Especially the liquid state DFT results give convincing evidence for a reduced ionic charge on the ions. The similarity of both results suggest that the delocalization of the Cl charge is due only to local interactions. The relevance of our results is 2-fold; on the one hand they shed light on the basic property of the liquid and its reduced ionic character, and on the other hand, the ab initio derived partial charges provide a fundamental theoretical basis for the recent attempts to use the total ionic charge as an adjustable parameter. Furthermore, all our partial charges are subject to large fluctuations, hinting to the importance of polarization effects.