Polymer Molecular Weight-Dependent Unusual Fluorescence Probe Behavior within 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium Hexafluorophosphate + Poly(ethylene glycol)

Effects of Ionic Liquids on the Cylindrical Self-Assemblies Formed by Poly(ethylene oxide)-Poly(propylene oxide)-Poly(ethylene oxide) Block Copolymers in Water

Aiming at the fundamental understanding of solvent effects in amphiphilic polymer systems, we considered poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymers in water mixed with an ionic liquid-ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6), or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4)-and we investigated the hexagonal lyotropic liquid crystal structures by means of small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). At 50% polymer, the hexagonal structure (cylinders of self-assembled block copolymer) was maintained across the solvent mixing ratio. The effects of the ionic liquids were reflected in the characteristic length scales of the hexagonal structure and were interpreted in terms of the location of the ionic liquid in the self-assembled block copolymer domains. The protic ionic liquid EAN was evenly distributed within the aqueous domains and showed no affinity for the interface, whereas BMIMPF6 preferred to swell PEO and was located at the interface so as to reduce contact with water. BMIMBF4 was also interfacially active, but to a lesser extent.

Phase Behavior and Structure of Poloxamer Block Copolymers in Protic and Aprotic Ionic Liquids

Ionic liquids are promising media for self-assembling block copolymers in applications such as energy storage. A robust design of block copolymer formulations in ionic liquids requires fundamental knowledge of their self-organization at the nanoscale. To this end, here, we focus on modeling two-component systems comprising a Poly(ethylene oxide)-poly (propylene oxide)-Poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymer (Pluronic P105: EO37PO58EO37) and room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs): protic ethylammonium nitrate (EAN), aprotic ionic liquids (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6), or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIMBF4). Rich structural polymorphism was exhibited, including phases of micellar (sphere) cubic, hexagonal (cylinder), bicontinuous cubic, and lamellar (bilayer) lyotropic liquid crystalline (LLC) ordered structures in addition to solution regions. The characteristic scales of the structural lengths were obtained using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) data analysis. On the basis of phase behavior and structure, the effects of the ionic liquid solvent on block copolymer organization were assessed and contrasted to those of molecular solvents, such as water and formamide.

Insights into the Structure and Dynamics of Imidazolium Ionic Liquid and Tetraethylene Glycol Dimethyl Ether Cosolvent Mixtures: A Molecular Dynamics Approach

In this work, the effect of molecular cosolvents tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether (TEGDME) on the structure and versatile nature of mixtures of these compounds with imidazolium-based ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]) is analyzed and discussed at a molecular level by means of all-atom molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In the whole concentration range of the binary mixtures, the structures and properties evolution was studied by means of systematic molecular dynamics simulations of the fraction of hydrogen bonds, the radial and spatial distribution functions for the various molecular ions and molecular species in the system, together with the snapshots visualization of equilibrated simulation boxes with a color-coding scheme and the rotational dynamics of coumarin 153 (C153) in the binary mixtures. The goal of the work is to provide a molecular-level understanding of significant improvement of ionic conductivity and self-diffusion with the presence of TEGDME as a cosolvent, which causes an enhancement to the ion translational motion and fluidity in the [bmim][PF₆] ionic liquids (ILs). Under a mixture concentration change, the microstructure changes of [bmim][PF₆] with the TEGDME molar fraction (X_TEG) above 0.50 show a slight difference from that of neat [bmim][PF₆] IL and concentrated [bmim][PF₆]/TEGDME mixture in terms of the radial and spatial distribution functions. The relative diffusivities of solvent molecules to cations as a function of concentration were found to depend on the solvent but not on the anion. A TEGDME increase is found to be advantageous to the dissipation of the polar regions as well as the nonpolar regions in the [bmim][PF₆] ionic liquids. These conclusions are consistent with the experimental results, which verified that the unique, complex, and versatile nature of [bmim][PF₆]/TEGDME mixture can be correctly modeled and discussed at a molecular level using MD simulation data.

Aqueous biphasic systems composed of ionic liquids and polypropylene glycol: insights into their liquid-liquid demixing mechanisms

Novel ternary phase diagrams of aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) composed of polypropylene glycol with an average molecular weight of 400 g mol(-1) (PPG-400) and a vast number of ionic liquids (ILs) were determined. The large array of selected ILs allowed us to evaluate their tuneable structural features, namely the effect of the anion nature, cation core and cation alkyl side chain length on the phase behaviour. Additional evidence on the molecular-level mechanisms which rule the phase splitting was obtained by (1)H NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance) spectroscopy and by COSMO-RS (Conductor-like Screening Model for Real Solvents). Some systems, for which the IL-PPG-400 pairs are completely miscible, revealed to be of type "0". All data collected suggest that the formation of PPG-IL-based ABSs is controlled by the interactions established between the IL and PPG, contrarily to previous reports where a "salting-out" phenomenon exerted by the IL over the polymer in aqueous media was proposed as the dominant effect in ABS formation. The influence of temperature on the liquid-liquid demixing was also evaluated. In general, an increase in temperature favours the formation of an ABS in agreement with the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) phase behaviour usually observed in polymer-IL binary mixtures. Partition results of a dye (chloroanilic acid, in its neutral form) further confirm the possibility of tailoring the phases' polarities of IL-PPG-based ABSs.

Hybrid green nonaqueous media: tetraethylene glycol modifies the properties of a (choline chloride + urea) deep eutectic solvent

In mixture of a deep eutectic solvent Reline with tetraethylene glycol, inter-species interactions are stronger than the intra-species interactions.

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.

Solvatochromic probe response within ionic liquids and their equimolar mixtures with tetraethylene glycol

Synergism in a probe response within a mixture hints at the presence of strong interactions involving the solvent constituents of the mixture and possibly the probe. Unusual and rare "hyperpolarity" resulting from the synergism in probe response exhibited by ionic liquid (IL) mixtures with glycol family solvents is investigated in detail for equimolar mixtures of tetraethylene glycol (TEG) with many structurally different ILs using several UV-vis absorbance and fluorescence solvatochromic probes. Thirteen different ILs, of the same cation 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium and different anions, of the same anion bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and different cations, and of C2 methyl-substituted imidazolium cations, are used to assess the structural dependence of the IL on synergism exhibited by (IL + TEG) mixture. Responses from UV-vis absorbance probes are used to obtain ET [dipolarity/polarizability and/or H-bond donating (HBD) acidity] and Kamlet-Taft parameters [π* (dipolarity/polarizability), α (HBD acidity), and β (HB accepting basicity)] within (IL + TEG) mixtures. The band I-to-band III fluorescence intensity ratio of dipolarity probe pyrene along with the lowest energy fluorescence band maxima of pyrene-1-carboxaldehyde (PyCHO, a probe for the permittivity of the medium), coumarin-153 and N,N-dimethyl-6-propionyl-2-naphthylamine PRODAN (neutral photoinduced charge-transfer fluorescence probes), and 6-p-toluidine-2-naphthalenesulfonic acid (TNS) and l-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) (ionic photoinduced charge-transfer fluorescence probes) are used to assess whether synergism is exhibited by (IL + TEG) equimolar mixtures. Probe responses within TEG equimolar mixtures with ILs are compared to those with common organic solvents. An attempt is made to establish a correlation between the synergism observed in the probe response within an (IL + TEG) mixture and the structural features of the cation and anion of the IL, such as acidity of the protons of the cation, aromaticity of the cation, and size, shape, and coordinating ability of the anion. It is established that the solvatochromism exhibited by the probes within (IL + TEG) mixtures is due to complex coupling of several different interactions and dynamical processes involving the probe as well as IL and TEG within the mixture.

Exploring the photophysics of curcumin in zwitterionic micellar system: an approach to control ESIPT process in the presence of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) and anionic surfactant

In this manuscript, we have modulated the photophysical properties of curcumin in a zwitterionic (N-hexadecyl-N,N-dimethylammonio-1-propanesulfonate (SB-16)) micellar aggregates with addition of room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) as well as commonly used anionic surfactant (SDS), using steady-state and time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. To modulate the photophysics, first we studied its interaction with an SB-16 micellar system, then to further exploit its photophysics, three RTILs (EmimES, EmimBS, EmimHS) with variation of alkyl chain lengths as well as SDS were used. It is observed that the rate of degradation of curcumin is drastically decreased after partitioning into the zwitterionic micellar system. It is shown that the dynamics of excited state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) processes can be controlled by using those RTILs and SDS. Our study also reveals that the hindrance of nonradiative processes of curcumin, i.e., ESIPT is more pronounced in the case of RTIL containing a long alkyl chain compared to a small one. However, most interestingly the addition of long chain (dodecyl) anionic surfactant (SDS) promotes the ESIPT process of curcumin. We have also studied the effect of the addition of inorganic salt and compared the results with RTILs. The present work demonstrates an effort to decipher the photophysics of curcumin in zwitterionic micellar systems by monitoring its excited state dynamics.

Unusual solvatochromic absorbance probe behaviour within mixtures of poly(ethylene glycol)-400+ionic liquid, [bmim][Tf2N]

The potentially green solvents made up of ionic liquids (ILs) and poly(ethylene glycols) may have wide range of the applications in many chemical and biochemical fields. In the present work, solvatochromic absorbance probe behaviour is used to assess the physicochemical properties of the mixtures composed of PEG-400+IL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [bmim][Tf2N]. Lowest energy intramolecular charge-transfer absorbance maxima of a betaine dye, i.e., E(T)(N), indicates the dipolarity/polarizability and/or hydrogen-bond donating (HBD) acidity of the [bmim][Tf2N]+PEG-400 mixtures to be even higher than that of neat [bmim][Tf2N], the solution component with higher dipolarity/polarizability and/or HBD acidity. Dipolarity/polarizability (π(∗)) obtained separately from the electronic absorbance response of probe N,N-diethyl-4-nitroaniline, and the HBD acidity (α) of PEG-400+[bmim][Tf2N] mixtures are also observed to be anomalously high. A comparative study of the PEG+IL mixtures has also been done with PEG-400+molecular organic solvents (protic polar [methanol], aprotic polar [N,N-dimethylformamide], and non polar, [benzene]) mixtures, but these mixtures do not show this type of unusual behaviour. A four-parameter simplified combined nearly ideal binary solvent/Redlich-Kister (CNIBS/R-K) equation is shown to satisfactorily predict the solvatochromic parameters within PEG-400+different solvent mixtures.

Physicochemical properties of glycine-based ionic liquid [QuatGly-OEt][EtOSO(3)] (2-Ethoxy-1-ethyl-1,1-dimethyl-2-oxoethanaminium ethyl sulfate) and its binary mixtures with poly(ethylene glycol) (M(w) = 200) at various temperatures

This work includes specific basic characterization of synthesized glycine-based Ionic Liquid (IL) [QuatGly-OEt][EtOSO₃] by NMR, elementary analysis and water content. Thermophysical properties such as density, ρ, viscosity, η, refractive index, n, and conductivity, κ, for the binary mixture of [QuatGly-OEt][EtOSO₃] with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) [M_w = 200] are measured over the whole composition range. The temperature dependence of density and dynamic viscosity for neat [QuatGly-OEt][EtOSO₃] and its binary mixture can be described by an empirical polynomial equation and by the Vogel-Tammann-Fucher (VTF) equation, respectively. The thermal expansion coefficient of the ILs is ascertained using the experimental density results, and the excess volume expansivity is evaluated. The negative values of excess molar volume for the mixture indicate the ion-dipole interactions and packing between IL and PEG oligomer. The results of binary excess property (V_m^E ) and deviations (Δη, Δ_xn, Δ_Ψn, Δ_xR, and Δ_ΨR) are discussed in terms of molecular interactions and molecular structures in the binary mixture.