Ion association in model ionic fluids

The influence of hydrogen bonding on the physical properties of ionic liquids

Potential applications of ionic liquids depend on the properties of this class of liquid material. To a large extent the structure and properties of these Coulomb systems are determined by the intermolecular interactions among anions and cations. In particular the subtle balance between Coulomb forces, hydrogen bonds and dispersion forces is of great importance for the understanding of ionic liquids. The purpose of the present paper is to answer three questions: Do hydrogen bonds exist in these Coulomb fluids? To what extent do hydrogen bonds contribute to the overall interaction between anions and cations? And finally, are hydrogen bonds important for the physical properties of ionic liquids? All these questions are addressed by using a suitable combination of experimental and theoretical methods including newly synthesized imidazolium-based ionic liquids, far infrared spectroscopy, terahertz spectroscopy, DFT calculations, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), viscometry and quartz-crystal-microbalance measurements. The key statement is that although ionic liquids consist solely of anions and cations and Coulomb forces are the dominating interaction, local and directional interaction such as hydrogen bonding has significant influence on the structure and properties of ionic liquids. This is demonstrated for the case of melting points, viscosities and enthalpies of vaporization. As a consequence, a variety of important properties can be tuned towards a larger working temperature range, finally expanding the range of potential applications.

Computer simulations of the restricted primitive model at very low temperature and density

The problem of successfully simulating ionic fluids at low temperature and low density states is well known in the simulation literature: using conventional methods, the system is not able to equilibrate rapidly due to the presence of strongly associated cation-anion pairs. In this paper we present a numerical method for speeding up computer simulations of the restricted primitive model (RPM) at low temperatures (around the critical temperature) and at very low densities (down to 10(-10)σ(-3), where σ is the ion diameter). Experimentally, this regime corresponds to typical concentrations of electrolytes in nonaqueous solvents. As far as we are aware, this is the first time that the RPM has been equilibrated at such extremely low concentrations. More generally, this method could be used to equilibrate other systems that form aggregates at low concentrations.

Dipole fluid as a basic model for the equation of state of ionic liquids in the vicinity of their critical point

A model of dipole fluid for ionic liquids similar to molten NaCl is proposed. The estimates for the critical parameters are obtained with the help of the van der Waals equation of state. The influence of the rotation on the characteristics of a dipole pair and the location of the critical point is discussed. The dissociation of such a fluid near the critical point is considered.

Critical behavior of ionic liquids

The renormalization of the Landau-Ginzburg Hamiltonian for a system with Coulombic interactions caused by spatially inhomogeneous polarizational effects is discussed. It is shown that for ionic liquids with a strong dependence of the degree of dissociation on density, the nonclassical fluctuation region is significantly narrowed. The essential role of the association of ions is noted.

Coexistence and criticality in size-asymmetric hard-core electrolytes

Liquid-vapor coexistence curves and critical parameters for hard-core 1:1 electrolyte models with diameter ratios lambda = sigma(-)/sigma(+) = 1 to 5.7 have been studied by fine-discretization Monte Carlo methods. Normalizing via the length scale sigma(+/-) = 1 / 2(sigma(+)+sigma(-)), relevant for the low densities in question, both T(*)(c) ( = k(B)T(c)sigma(+/-)/q(2)) and rho(*)(c) ( = rho(c)sigma(3)(+/-)) decrease rapidly (from approximately 0.05 to 0.03 and 0.08 to 0.04, respectively) as lambda increases. These trends, which unequivocally contradict current theories, are closely mirrored by results for tightly tethered dipolar dimers (with T(*)(c) lower by approximately 0%-11% and rho(*)(c) greater by 37%-12%).