Stokes Shift Dynamics in (Ionic Liquid + Polar Solvent) Binary Mixtures: Composition Dependence

Effect of Mixture Composition on the Photophysics of Indoline Dyes in Imidazolium Ionic Liquid-Molecular Solvent Mixtures: A Femtosecond Transient Absorption Study

We conducted a study on the photophysics of three indoline dyes, D102, D149, and D205, in binary mixtures of ionic liquids (IL) and polar aprotic molecular solvents (MS). Specifically, we examined the behavior of these dyes in IL-MS mixtures containing four different imidazolium-based ILs and three different polar aprotic MSs. Our investigation involved several techniques, including stationary absorption and emission measurements, as well as femtosecond transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy. Through our analysis, we discovered a peculiar behavior of several photophysical properties at low IL mole fractions (0 < XIL < 0.2). Indeed, in this range of mixture composition, the absorption maximum wavelength decreases noticeably, while the emission maximum wavelength and the Stokes shift, expressed in wavenumbers, reach a maximum. while a minimum occurs in the relative quantum yield and the excited state lifetime. These results indicate that the solvation of dye undergoes a large change in this range of mixture composition. We found that, at high ionic liquid content, the excited relaxation times are correlated with the high viscosity, while at low content, it is the polarity of the solvent that influences the behavior of the excited relaxation times. At a mixture composition of around 0.10, the behavior of the photophysical properties of the studied IL-MS mixtures indicates a crossover between situations where the solvation is dominated by that of ions and that dominated by the solvent.

Understanding the Behavior of Monocationic and Dicationic Room-Temperature Ionic Liquids through Resonance Energy-Transfer Studies

The present work has been undertaken with an objective to understand the differences in the local structural organization of imidazolium-based monocationic ionic liquids (MILs) and dicationic ionic liquids (DILs) through resonance energy-transfer (RET) studies. In this study, a neat IL is used as a donor and a charged species rhodamine 6G (R6G) is used as an acceptor unit because of the fact that they satisfy the spectroscopic criteria that are needed for an RET event to take place. Additionally, R6G, being a charged species, is expected to facilitate the electrostatic interactions with the ILs which are also charged. Specifically, two imidazolium-based germinal DILs and their monocationic counterparts are used for the present investigations. Additionally, the studies are carried out in some selected MILs where the lengths of the alkyl side chains are kept unchanged for MILs and DILs. Interestingly, the present data reveal that the RET interaction is more favorable for DILs than for MILs, even though the DILs are relatively bulkier than their monocationic counterparts. More interestingly, the RET interaction is also found to be more favorable for DILs than for MILs, where the length of the alkyl group is kept fixed for MILs and DILs. The result of the present study delineates that the alkyl chain length on the cation is not the sole factor contributing to the RET outcomes for DILs and MILs but the local structure of DILs also contributes significantly to the same. The current investigation clearly indicates that DILs have a more compact local structure than that of MILs. Essentially, the current study highlights that a cost-effective, noninvasive technique such as RET is quite effective in capturing the differences in the nanostructural organization of MILs and DILs.

Probing the microscopic structural organization of neat ionic liquids (ILs) and ionic liquid-based gels through resonance energy transfer (RET) studies

With the aim to understand the role of the ionic constituents of ionic liquids (ILs) in their structural organization, resonance energy transfer (RET) studies between ionic liquids (donor) and rhodamine 6G (acceptor) have been investigated.

How Heterogeneous Are Trehalose/Glycerol Cryoprotectant Mixtures? A Combined Time-Resolved Fluorescence and Computer Simulation Investigation

Heterogeneity and molecular motions in representative cryoprotectant mixtures made of trehalose and glycerol are investigated in the temperature range 298 ≤ T (K) ≤ 353, via time-resolved fluorescence Stokes shift and anisotropy measurements, and molecular dynamics simulations of four-point density-time correlations and H-bond relaxations. Mixtures containing 5 and 20 wt % of trehalose along with neat glycerol are studied. Viscosity coefficients for these systems lie in the range 0.30 < η (P) < 23. Measured solute (Coumarin 153) rotation and solvation times reveal a substantial departure from the hydrodynamic viscosity dependence, suggesting the strong microheterogeneous nature of these systems. Fluorescence anisotropy decays are highly nonexponential, reflecting a non-Markovian character of the medium friction. A complete missing of the Stokes shift dynamics in these systems at 298 K but partial detection of it at other higher temperatures (shift magnitude being ∼400-600 cm^-1) indicates rigid solute environments. An amorphous solid-like feature emerges in the simulated radial distribution functions at these temperatures. Analyses of mean squared displacements reveal rattling-in-a-cage motion, non-Gaussian displacement distributions, and strong dynamic heterogeneity features. Simulated dynamic structure factors and four-point correlations hint, respectively, at very long α-relaxation and correlated time scales at 298 K. This explains the long solute rotation times (∼80-200 ns) measured at 298 K. Stretched exponential decay of the simulated H-bond relaxations with long time scales further highlights the strong temporal heterogeneity and slow dynamics inherent to these systems. In summary, this work provides the first insight into the molecular motions and interspecies interaction in a representative cryoprotectant mixture, and stimulates further study to investigate the interconnection between cryoprotection and dynamic heterogeneity.

Combining non-equilibrium simulations and coarse-grained modelling allows for a fine-grained decomposition of solvation dynamics

The time-dependent Stokes shift is shown to be a localized and short-ranged effect in ionic liquids.

Dielectric spectra of ionic liquids and their conversion to solvation dynamics: a detailed computational analysis of polarizable systems

For the three molecular ionic liquids 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate, dielectric spectra were calculated from molecular dynamics simulations based on polarizable force fields. Using the reaction field continuum model the dielectric spectra were converted to the solvation dynamics of coumarin 153. It is shown in detail that the inclusion of the static conductivity in this model is essential. When simplifying the dielectric spectrum to the static conductivity hyperbola, the solvation response function becomes mono-exponential. Taking into account the frequency dependence of the conductivity, the typical two time-regimes of the solvation response function in ionic liquids are already obtained. However, the mean relaxation time remains the same. When converting the complete dielectric spectrum, i.e. also including frequency-dependent dielectric permittivity, quantitative changes are observed, but the qualitative shape is conserved. In accordance with previous experimental studies, solvation dynamics in ionic liquids predicted by the reaction field continuum model is too fast for longer times. This correlates with the suppression of the fine structure of the dielectric spectrum at low frequencies by the static conductivity hyperbola. By scaling down the static conductivity this effect can be partially amended. In addition to the impact of the solvent dielectric spectrum on solvation dynamics, solute-specific effects, i.e. anisotropy in shape and charge distribution as well as polarizability, were also studied.

Molecular level interactions in binary mixtures of 1-ethyl 3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and water

NIR spectroscopic analysis and DLS measurements were carried out to study hydrogen bonding and aggregation in ionic liquid–water binary mixtures.

Investigation of the influence of alkyl side chain length on the fluorescence response of C153 in a series of room temperature ionic liquids

Variation of average solvation time with the product of temperature averaged viscosity and the radius of the cation of different room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) with varying cationic chain length.

Do H-bonds explain strong ion aggregation in ethylammonium nitrate + acetonitrile mixtures?

Binary mixtures of the protic ionic liquid ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) and acetonitrile (AN) were studied at 25 °C over the entire composition range by means of broadband dielectric spectroscopy covering 0.2 ≤ ν/GHz ≤ 89. The dielectric spectra could be decomposed into two relaxation processes, both of which proved to be composite modes. For dilute solutions the higher-frequency Debye relaxation centered at ∼60 GHz is associated with the rotational diffusion of AN molecules, whereas at higher salt concentrations ultra-fast intermolecular vibrations and librations of EAN dominate the process. For EAN-rich solutions the lower-frequency relaxation is mainly due to jump reorientation of the ethylammonium cation, whereas contact ion pairs (CIPs) dominate this mode for dilute solutions. From the relaxation amplitudes effective solvation numbers and ion-pair concentrations were determined. For vanishing EAN mole fraction, xEAN → 0, an effective cation solvation number of ∼7 was found which steeply drops until xEAN ≈ 0.2 but shows only moderate decrease later on. The obtained association constant for EAN, K0(A) = 970 L mol(-1), exceeds that of other 1 : 1 electrolytes in AN by a factor of ∼30-50. This observation, as well as the fact that CIPs are formed despite strong cation solvation, indicates that ion pairing is mainly driven by the formation of strong hydrogen bonds between anions and cations.

Evaluation of thermophysical properties of ionic liquids with polar solvent: a comparable study of two families of ionic liquids with various ions

In this work, we explore and compare the role of the ion effect on the thermophysical properties of two families of ionic liquids (ILs), namely, tetra-alkyl ammonium cation [R4N](+) with hydroxide [OH](-) anion and 1-alkyl-3-methyl imidazolium cation [amim](+) with different anions (chloride, methyl sulfate, and tetrafluoroborate), with polar solvent such as dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) in the temperature range from 25 to 40 °C and over the whole concentration range of ILs. Two families of ILs, namely, tetramethyl ammonium hydroxide [(CH3)4N][OH] (TMAH), tetraethyl ammonium hydroxide [(C2H5)4N][OH] (TEAH), tetrapropyl ammonium hydroxide [(C3H7)4N][OH] (TPAH), and tetrabutyl ammonium hydroxide [(C4H9)4N][OH] (TBAH) from ammonium-based ILs and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [Emim][Cl], 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methylsulfate [Emim][MeSO4], 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate [Bmim][BF4], and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim][Cl]) from imidazolium family of ILs, are used in the present study. To address the molecular interactions of ILs with DMSO, densities (ρ), ultrasonic sound velocities (u), and viscosities (η) have been measured over the entire composition range and at four temperatures, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C, under atmospheric pressure. From these experimental data, the excess molar volume (V(E)), the deviation in isentropic compressibility (Δκs), and the deviation in viscosity (Δη) were calculated and were adequately correlated by using the Redlich-Kister polynomial equation. The measured and predicted data were interpreted on the basis of intermolecular interactions and structural effects between like and unlike molecules upon mixing. The hydrogen-bonding features between ammonium-based ILs and DMSO were analyzed using molecular modeling program by HyperChem 7.