The Magnetic Field Effects on Photochemical Reactions in Ionic Liquids

Wettability of Ionic Liquids in High Magnetic Fields

Here, we demonstrate that high magnetic fields alter the wettability of water and ionic solutions on the single-crystal α-Al2O3. We investigated the relationship between the substrate crystal orientation, material magnetism, liquid conductivity, and the surface contact angle. Applying high magnetic fields decreased the water contact angles on all of the surface orientations studied, and the reduction was larger for more magnetic substrates. For ionic solutions, high magnetic fields increased the contact angle on the (0001) α-Al2O3 surface but decreased the contact angles on the (112̅0), (101̅0), and (011̅2) surfaces. We attribute these orientation-dependent ionic solution responses to competition between the field-induced sample magnetization energy and the Lorentz force acting on the ionic solution. Overall, this work provides new magnetic-field-based strategies for changing the wettability and provides guidelines for fabricating novel microfluidic systems or biointerfaces with in situ magnetic control.

Diffusion of Radical Ions in Ionic Liquids Having Long Alkyl Chains

Magnetic field effects on a radical ion pair have been studied to investigate the diffusion of the radical ions generated by a photoinduced electron transfer reaction in ionic liquids having short and long alkyl chains. The yield of an escaped radical ion was evaluated by using a nanosecond laser flash photolysis under various magnetic fields. The magnitude of the magnetic field effect on the yield of the escaped radical was linearly increased with increasing solvent viscosity. Such solvent viscosity dependence of the magnetic field effect can be explained with the solvent viscosity dependence of the escape rate of the radical ions from the pair. In the time window (>20 ns) of our measurements, the effect of long alkyl chain aggregation on the dynamics of the radical ions was not clearly observed.

A practical approach to calculate the time evolutions of magnetic field effects on photochemical reactions in nano-structured materials

A practical method to calculate time evolutions of magnetic field effects (MFEs) on photochemical reactions involving radical pairs is developed on the basis of the theory of the chemically induced dynamic spin polarization proposed by Pedersen and Freed. In theory, the stochastic Liouville equation (SLE), including the spin Hamiltonian, diffusion motions of the radical pair, chemical reactions, and spin relaxations, is solved by using the Laplace and the inverse Laplace transformation technique. In our practical approach, time evolutions of the MFEs are successfully calculated by applying the Miller-Guy method instead of the final value theorem to the inverse Laplace transformation process. Especially, the SLE calculations are completed in a short time when the radical pair dynamics can be described by the chemical kinetics consisting of diffusions, reactions and spin relaxations. The SLE analysis with a short calculation time enables one to examine the various parameter sets for fitting the experimental date. Our study demonstrates that simultaneous fitting of the time evolution of the MFE and of the magnetic field dependence of the MFE provides valuable information on the diffusion motions of the radical pairs in nano-structured materials such as micelles where the lifetimes of radical pairs are longer than hundreds of nano-seconds and the magnetic field dependence of the spin relaxations play a major role for the generation of the MFE.

Magnetic field effects on copper metal deposition from copper sulfate aqueous solution

Effects of a magnetic field (≤0.5 T) on electroless copper metal deposition from the reaction of a copper sulfate aqueous solution and a zinc thin plate were examined in this study. In a zero field, a smooth copper thin film grew steadily on the plate. In a 0.38 T field, a smooth copper thin film deposited on a zinc plate within about 1 min. Then, it peeled off repeatedly from the plate. The yield of consumed copper ions increased about 2.1 times compared with that in a zero field. Mechanism of this magnetic field effect was discussed in terms of Lorentz force- and magnetic force-induced convection and local volta cell formation.

Magnetic field effect on chemical wave propagation from the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction

Effects of magnetic field (maximum field, 4 and 93 T(2) m(-1)) on the propagation speed of a chemical wavefront from the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction were studied in a thin glass tube. The downward and upward speed and the horizontal one are, respectively affected significantly by vertical and horizontal magnetic fields. Observations of the wavefront shape in magnetic fields showed that the magnetic force-induced convection causes the observed effects.