Dynamics of SCN- ions in molten thiocyanates and aqueous solutions by Raman spectroscopy

The Raman spectra of the v ₁(CN) stretching mode of SCN^- ions have been measured in molten thiocyanates, KSCN and NaSCN, at temperatures 450-600K. The vibrational and the rotational correlation functions are calculated, and the dynamics of SCN^- ions in the molten state are compared with those in aqueous solutions of KSCN, NaSCN, and LiSCN at concentrations 1–10 mol dm^-3 and at temperatures 303–353 K. The observed vibrational correlation functions are analysed by the stochastic line shape theory of Kubo, in which homogeneous and inhomogeneous broadening are treated simultaneously. Both broadening contributions to the isotropic spectra are extracted. The homogeneous broadening is found to increase with increasing temperature in both melts and aqueous solutions; the inhomogeneous broadening remains constant in molten KSCN while it decreases in aqueous solutions. As the result, the isotropic Raman bandwidth is considered to increase with temperature in the molten state and to decrease in aqueous solutions. Rotational correlation functions of SCN^- ions in these molten salts show the behaviour of the short time inertial rotation (t ? 0·15 ps, jump angle 20°), which is a little slower than the free rotation of a single ion. The long time exponential decay of the rotational correlation functions reflects the ultimate diffusional behaviour of the ionic reorientation. The rotational relaxation rate increases with increasing temperature in both melts and aqueous solutions. The vibrational dephasing rate decreases and the rotational relaxation rate increases as the cation size increases in melts. In aqueous solutions, the vibrational dephasing rate follows the same cation dependence as that in melts, while the rotational relaxation rate decreases as the cation size increases. This seems to be a consequence of the specific local structures in aqueous electrolyte solutions.