Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent

Many applications of ionic liquids involve their mixtures with neutral molecular solvents. The chemical physics of these high-concentration electrolytes, in particular at interfaces, still holds many challenges. In this contribution we begin to unravel the relationship between measurements of struct...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Coles, S, Smith, A, Fedorov, M, Hausen, F, Perkin, S
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Royal Society of Chemistry 2017
_version_ 1797066369591672832
author Coles, S
Smith, A
Fedorov, M
Hausen, F
Perkin, S
author_facet Coles, S
Smith, A
Fedorov, M
Hausen, F
Perkin, S
author_sort Coles, S
collection OXFORD
description Many applications of ionic liquids involve their mixtures with neutral molecular solvents. The chemical physics of these high-concentration electrolytes, in particular at interfaces, still holds many challenges. In this contribution we begin to unravel the relationship between measurements of structural ('solvation') forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with polar solvent and the corresponding structure determined by molecular dynamics simulations of the same mixtures. In order to make the quantitative link between experiments with mica surfaces and simulations with fixed-charge surfaces, we present an experimental procedure for determining the effective surface charge on mica in ionic liquid. We find that a structural cross-over recently inferred from force measurements appears to be supported by the simulations: at the cross-over, the charge-oscillatory structure switches to charge-monotonic, and solvent layering becomes dominant. Finally, we map out a phase diagram in composition-surface charge space delineating regions of charge-oscillatory interfacial structure and regions of charge-monotonic decay. We note that these features of structure and oscillatory forces are distinct from (acting simultaneously with) the recently reported longer range monotonic forces arising from anomalously long bulk screening lengths in high-concentration electrolytes.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T21:41:03Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:47f0e96d-9f78-404c-98d6-9b02772f979d
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T21:41:03Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Royal Society of Chemistry
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:47f0e96d-9f78-404c-98d6-9b02772f979d2022-03-26T15:22:53ZInterfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solventJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:47f0e96d-9f78-404c-98d6-9b02772f979dEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordRoyal Society of Chemistry2017Coles, SSmith, AFedorov, MHausen, FPerkin, SMany applications of ionic liquids involve their mixtures with neutral molecular solvents. The chemical physics of these high-concentration electrolytes, in particular at interfaces, still holds many challenges. In this contribution we begin to unravel the relationship between measurements of structural ('solvation') forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with polar solvent and the corresponding structure determined by molecular dynamics simulations of the same mixtures. In order to make the quantitative link between experiments with mica surfaces and simulations with fixed-charge surfaces, we present an experimental procedure for determining the effective surface charge on mica in ionic liquid. We find that a structural cross-over recently inferred from force measurements appears to be supported by the simulations: at the cross-over, the charge-oscillatory structure switches to charge-monotonic, and solvent layering becomes dominant. Finally, we map out a phase diagram in composition-surface charge space delineating regions of charge-oscillatory interfacial structure and regions of charge-monotonic decay. We note that these features of structure and oscillatory forces are distinct from (acting simultaneously with) the recently reported longer range monotonic forces arising from anomalously long bulk screening lengths in high-concentration electrolytes.
spellingShingle Coles, S
Smith, A
Fedorov, M
Hausen, F
Perkin, S
Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title_full Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title_fullStr Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title_full_unstemmed Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title_short Interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
title_sort interfacial structure and structural forces in mixtures of ionic liquid with a polar solvent
work_keys_str_mv AT coless interfacialstructureandstructuralforcesinmixturesofionicliquidwithapolarsolvent
AT smitha interfacialstructureandstructuralforcesinmixturesofionicliquidwithapolarsolvent
AT fedorovm interfacialstructureandstructuralforcesinmixturesofionicliquidwithapolarsolvent
AT hausenf interfacialstructureandstructuralforcesinmixturesofionicliquidwithapolarsolvent
AT perkins interfacialstructureandstructuralforcesinmixturesofionicliquidwithapolarsolvent