Tunable gold nanoparticles shape and size in reductive and structuring media containing protic ionic liquids

Herein, a facile method was developed for preparing high concentration of monodispersed gold nanoparticles (NPs) at room temperature from gold(III) chloride by using different media based on N,N-dimethylformamide or water solutions containing a protic ionic liquid (PIL), namely, the octylammonium formate or the bis(2-ethyl-hexyl)ammonium formate, based on which both PILs were used as redox-active structuring media. The formation of gold NPs in these systems was then characterized using UV–visible spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. From these investigations, it appears that the structure and aggregation pathway of PILs in selected solvents affect strongly the formation, growth, the shape, and the size of gold NPs. In fact, by using this approach, the shape-/ size-controlled gold NPs (branched and spherical) can be generated under mild condition. This approach suggests also a wealth of potential for these designer nanomaterials within the biomedical, materials, and catalysis communities by using designer and safer media based on PILs.     

Mesophilic alcohol dehydrogenase behavior in imidazolium based ionic liquids

The use of ionic liquids to replace organic solvents in biocatalytic processes has recently gained much attention. Despite the wide applications of oxidoreductases, there are few reports of their catalyzed reaction in ionic liquid. We have investigated the influence of four water miscible ionic liquids on the activity, stability and structure of the mesophilic alcohol dehydrogenase from yeast. Upon changes in ionic liquids concentration, both activity and stability of the enzyme were affected. As the concentration of ionic liquids increased, K_m increased while k_cat decreased. Associated conformational changes caused by ILs (150 mM) were monitored using fluorescence technique. Finally, the effects of ILs cations and anions on the enzyme activity and stability in aqueous IL mixtures were discussed.     

Molecular dynamics study of confined ionic liquids in Au nanopore

Molecular dynamics simulations were carried to investigate the structure and dynamics of [BMIM][PF₆] ionic liquid (IL) confined inside a slit-like Au metal nanopore with a pore size of 5.0 nm. The calculations show that the mass and number densities of the confined ILs are oscillatory; the solid-like high density layers are formed in the vicinity of the metal surface. The orientational investigation shows that the imidazolium ring of [BMIM] cations prefers to form a small tilt angle with the pore walls. Furthermore, the mean squared displacement (MSD) calculation indicates that the dynamics of confined ILs are remarkably slower than those observed in bulk systems. Our results suggest that the confinement of the Au nanopore can strongly affect the structural and dynamical properties of the confined ILs.     

Physicochemical properties of ionic liquids based on imidazolium/pyrrolidinium cations and maleate/phthalate anions

Ionic liquids (ILs) based on imidazolium/pyrrolidinium cations and maleate/phthalate anions can be used as excellent electrolyte materials for electrolytic capacitors. In this study, we synthesized four ILs of this family and investigated their thermal behaviors, ionic conductivities and sparking voltages. The four ILs have high thermal stability for capacitor requirements. The conductivities of imidazolium ILs are slightly higher than those of pyrrolidinium analogs and the conductivities of maleate anion-based ILs are higher than those of corresponding phthalate anion-based ILs. Besides, the long-term thermal stability of imidazolium ILs in conductivity is superior to that of pyrrolidinium analogs. Whereas the long-term thermal stability of phthalate anion-based ILs is better than that of corresponding maleate anion-based ILs. The influence of cationic structure of the ILs on conductivity was analyzed. The temperature dependence of conductivity was also discussed in this work. The Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher (VTF) equation accurately describes the temperature dependence of conductivity for the ILs. In addition, the result of sparking voltage measurement shows that neither Ikonopisov nor Albella model is valid for the ILs.     

Multiscale modelling strategies and experimental insights for the solvation of cellulose and hemicellulose in ionic liquids

ABSTRACT

The present study investigates the dissolution behaviour of cellulose and hemicellulose in potential ionic liquids (ILs) using both the quantum chemical and experimental validation. For converging upon the recommended IL, 1428 ILs consisting of 42 cations and 34 anions were studied with the conductor like screening model for real solvents (COSMO-RS) model. Based on the infinite dilution activity coefficient of the components in IL, the selected anions and cations were visualised by observing their interactions with cellulose and hemicellulose using interaction energies, natural bonding orbital analysis and molecular dynamics simulations. The dissolution order of cellulose and hemicellulose in ILs was primarily determined by the evaluation of hydrogen bonds between the oxygen atom of anion and hydroxyl proton of cellulose/hemicellulose. From this discernible fact, the anion of the IL was observed to play a leading role in the solvation process as compared to the cation. Eventually, acetate [OAc]^– anion and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium [EMIM]⁺ cation were found to be good candidates for the dissolution of cellulose and hemicellulose. This was further confirmed by the measurement of solid-liquid equilibria with cellulose and hemicellulose. The regenerated cellulose powder was then characterised by Fourier transform spectroscopy(FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).     

Phase behaviors of ionic liquids attributed to the dual ionic and organic nature

Ionic liquids (ILs), also known as room-temperature molten salts, are solely composed of ions with melting points usually below 100 °C. Because of their low volatility and vast amounts of species, ILs can serve as ‘green solvents' and ‘designer solvents' to meet the requirements of various applications by fine-tuning their molecular structures. A good understanding of the phase behaviors of ILs is certainly fundamentally important in terms of their wide applications. This review intends to summarize the major conclusions so far drawn on phase behaviors of ILs by computational, theoretical, and experimental studies, illustrating the intrinsic relationship between their dual ionic and organic nature and the crystalline phases, nanoscale segregation liquid phase, IL crystal phases, as well as phase behaviors of their mixture with small organic molecules.     

A perturbed hard-sphere equation of state extended to imidazolium-based ionic liquids

A perturbed hard-sphere equation of state (EOS) has been previously employed to predict pressure–volume–temperature properties of some ionic liquids (ILs) with phosphonium-, pyridinium-, and pyrrolidinium cations. In this work, we have extended the considered EOS to another class of ILs in compressed states. This class consists of 14 imidazolium-based ILs. The predicted densities were compared with those obtained from the experiment, over a broad pressure range from 0.1 to 200 MPa. From 1,122 data points examined for the aforementioned ILs, the total average absolute deviation was found to be 1.05%.     

Unexpected acceleration of Ultrasonic-Assisted iodide dosimetry in the catalytic presence of ionic liquids

This study investigates the potential of using small amounts of ionic liquids (IL) to enhance ultrasound-assisted extraction of lipids content from green microalgae. Three imidazolium-based ILs (butyl, octyl and dodecyl), each of them with two anions (bromide and acetate) were tested as additives. Viscosity and surface tension of the ILs aqueous mixtures were analyzed to determine the influence of ILs’ anions and alkyl chain length, whereas KI dosimetry experiments were used as an indicator of radicals formation. A key finding suggests that the small addition of ILs improves the ultrasonication either by enhancing the viscosity and reducing the water surface tension, leading to a more powerful acoustic cavitation process or by increasing HO° production likely to oxidize the microalgae cells membranes, and consequently disrupting them on a more efficient manner. KI dosimetry also revealed that long ILs alkyl chain is detrimental. This experimental observation is confirmed thus strengthened as the yield of extracted lipids from green microalgae has shown an incremental trend when the IL concentration also increased. These hypotheses are currently under investigation to spot detailed impact of ILs on cavitation process.     

Potentialities of ionic liquids as new electrolyte media in advanced electrochemical devices

This paper reviews the various classes of ionic liquids (ILs) in view of their established and expected applications in advanced electrochemical devices, such as lithium batteries, fuel cells, and supercapacitors. In this respect, particular attention is devoted to aprotic and protic ILs, with a related discussion in terms of their thermal and transport properties. In addition, the role in the electrochemical technology of a new class of ILs having cation and anion tethered in an intramolecular form is stressed. Due to their emerging importance, IL-based polymers are finally reported and discussed. A conclusion, where the expected evolution of the ILs research and development is evaluated, is also included.     

Modified equation of state extended to imidazolium-, phosphonium-, pyridinium-, pyrrolidinium- and ammonium-based ionic liquids

An analytical equation of state (EoS) has been previously employed by Hosseini and Sharafi (Ionics 17:511, 2011) for modelling of PVT data of some ionic liquids (ILs). In this work, we have extended the mentioned model to five classes of ILs by the use of alternative scaling constants for corresponding states correlation procedure. For this purpose, ILs involving imidazolium, phosphonium, pyridinium, pyrrolidinium and ammonium cations have been taken into account. From these, 1,294 experimental data points examined to show the reliability of the modified EoS. The comparison of predicted densities with the measured values over a broad range of temperature 293?C452 K and pressures up to 150 MPa led to the encouraging results. The average absolute deviation of calculated densities from literature values was found to be 0.73%. Moreover, to establish the predictive power of proposed model, the reproduced densities have been compared with those obtained by another literature work. Moreover, we have demonstrated the density behaviour of studied ILs in terms of alkyl chain length of imidazolium cation via proposed model.     

Revisited vibrational assignments of imidazolium‐based ionic liquids

Imidazolium‐based ionic liquids (ILs) involving anions of variable coordinating strength have been investigated using infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopies, density functional theory (DFT) calculations and selective deuteration of the imidazolium CH groups. Particular emphasis has been placed on the vibrational assignments of the anion and cation internal vibrations, a prerequisite before any interpretation of spectral changes due to ion–ion interactions in these unconventional liquids. The vibrations of highly symmetric and weakly coordinating anions, such as PF₆⁻, have unperturbed wavenumbers, but unexpected IR or Raman activity for some modes, showing that the anion is subjected to an anisotropic electric field. The stretching as well as the in‐plane and out‐of‐plane bending modes of the imidazolium CH groups are anharmonic. They give broad bands that reflect a large distribution of interactions with the surrounding anions. All the bending modes are mixed with ring vibrations and the stretching modes are complicated by Fermi resonance interactions with overtones and combination of in‐plane ring modes. However, the stretching vibration of the quasi‐diatomic C₍₂₎ D bond appears to be a good spectroscopic probe of the increasing cation–anion interactions when the coordinating strength of the anion increases. The broad absorption observed in the far IR with weakly coordinating anions remains practically unchanged when the acidic C₍₂₎ H imidazolium bond is methylated and even when the imidazolium cation is substituted by tetra‐alkyl ammonium or pyrrolidinium cations. It is concluded that this absorption is a general feature of any IL, coming from the relative translational and librational motions of the ions without needing to invoke C₍₂₎ H anion hydrogen bonds. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis using ionic liquids

The research and application of green chemistry principles have led to the development of cleaner processes. In this sense, during the present century an ever-growing number of studies have been published describing the use of ionic liquids (ILs) as solvents, catalysts, or templates to develop more environmentally friendly and efficient chemical transformations for their use in both academia and industry. The conjugation of ILs and microwave irradiation as a non-conventional heating source has shown evident advantages when compared to conventional synthetic procedures for the generation of fast, efficient, and environmental friendly synthetic methodologies. This review focuses on the advances in the use of ILs in organic, polymers and materials syntheses under MW irradiation conditions.     

Probing solute-solvent interaction in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-based room temperature ionic liquids: A time-resolved fluorescence anisotropy study

Rotational diffusion of two organic solutes, coumarin153 (C153) and 4-aminophthalimide (AP) has been investigated in four ionic liquids (ILs), viz. 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium trifluoroacetate (EMIMTFA), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ethylsulfate (EMIMESU), 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (EMIMTFB) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetracyanoborate (EMIMTCB), as a function of temperature. Between the two probes, AP can act as hydrogen-bond-donor to the solvents having hydrogen bond acceptor ability. The results indicate that the rotational dynamics of C153 is mainly governed by the viscosity of the medium. On the other hand, the rotational motion of AP is found to be significantly hindered in the ILs depending on the nature of anions of the ILs. Rotational coupling constant values for AP in the ILs follow the order TFA?>?ESU?>?TCB?>?TFB. The slower rotational motion of AP in these ILs has been attributed to the specific hydrogen bonding interaction between AP and anions of ILs.

Electrolyte based on fluorinated cyclic quaternary ammonium ionic liquids

Ionic liquids, ILs, based on fluorinated pyrrolidinium and piperidinium ammonium cations and imide anion were prepared and characterized. The physicochemical and electrochemical properties of these ILs including melting point, glass transition and degradation temperatures, viscosity, ionic conductivity, and electrochemical stability were determined and compared to alkyl pyrrolidinium and piperidinium ILs. The incorporation of a CF₃ group instead of a CH₃ induces an increase of the IL viscosity, thus a conductivity decrease. However, good ionic conductivity is obtained with fluorinated pyrrolidinium IL. Cyclic amine ILs with propyl alkyl chain or fluorinated ammonium exhibit very high electrochemical stability toward oxidation. The effect of the addition of LiTFSI on the IL properties was studied with the same methodology.     

Piperidine‐appended imidazolium ionic liquids as task‐specific catalysts: computational study,synthesis, and multinuclear NMR

Imidazolium ionic liquids (IMILs) with a piperidine moiety appended via variable length methylene spacers (with n = 1–4) were studied computationally to assess their potential to act as internal base for N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC) generation. Proton transfer energies computed by B3LYP/6‐311+G(2d,p) were least endothermic for the basic‐IL with n = 3, whose optimized structure showed the shortest C₂‐H‐‐‐‐N(piperidine) distance. Inclusion of counter anion (Cl or NTf₂) caused dramatic conformational changes to enable close contact between the acidic C₂‐H and the anions. To examine the prospect for internal C₂‐H‐‐‐‐N coordination, multinuclear NMR data (¹H, ¹⁵N, and ¹³C) were computed by gauge independent atomic orbitals–density functional theory (GIAO‐DFT) in the gas phase and in several solvents by the PCM method for comparison with the experimental NMR data for the basic ILs (with n = 2–4) synthesized in the laboratory. These studies indicate that interactions with solvent and counter ion are dominant forces that could disrupt internal C₂‐H‐‐‐‐N coordination/proton transfer, making carbene generation from these basic‐ILs unlikely without an added external base. Therefore, the piperidine‐appended IMILs appear suitable for application as dual solvent/base in organic/organometallic transformations that require the use of mild base, without the necessity to alkylate at C‐2 to prevent N‐heterocyclic carbene formation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ionic liquids screening for desulfurization of natural gasoline by liquid–liquid extraction

Seventy five ionic liquids (ILs) were tested as a sequestering agent of sulfured compounds in natural gasoline (NG). Desulphurization of NG was performed by means of liquid–liquid extraction method at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Experimental ILs containing imidazolium, pyridinium, and ammonium cations along with organic and inorganic anions were synthesized conventionally and under microwave and sonochemical conditions. The effect of the molecular structure of ILs on the desulfurization efficiency of NG with high sulfur content was evaluated. Analysis indicated that the anion type played a more important role than the cation on the desulphurization process. ILs based on halogen–ferrates and halogen–aluminates exhibited the highest efficiency in sulfur removal, and their efficiency is further improved when there is an excess of metallic salt in a ratio of at least 1:1.3 during the synthesis of the corresponding IL. An explanation for the ability of metallic ILs to remove sulfur-containing compounds from natural gasoline based on the ratio of the ionic charge to the atomic radius is proposed. Furthermore, a method to recover and reuse water-sensitive to halogenated precursors is described.     

Synthesis,COSMO-RS analysis and optical properties of surface modified ZnS quantum dots using ionic liquids

Zinc sulfide (ZnS) quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized using the microwave assisted ionic liquid (MAIL) route. Three ionic liquids (ILs), namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([BMIM]BF₄]), trihexyl(tetradecyl) phosphonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) amide ([P_6,6,6,14][TSFA]) and trihexyl(tetradecyl) phosphonium chloride ([P_6,6,6,14][Cl]) were used in this study. The size and structure of the QDs were characterized by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) and selected area electron diffraction (SAED) pattern, respectively. The synthesized QDs were of wurtzite crystalline structure with size less than 5 nm. The QDs were more uniformly distributed while using the phosponium based ILs as a reaction medium during synthesis. The optical properties were investigated by UV–vis absorption and photoluminescence (PL) emission spectroscopy. The optical properties of QDs showed the quantum confinement effect in their absorption and the effect of cation and anion structural moiety was observed on their bandedge emission. The QDs emission intensity was measured higher for [P_6,6,6,14][Cl] due to their better dispersion as well as high charge density of Cl anion. The capability of the ILs in stabilizing the QDs was interpreted by density functional theory (DFT) computations. The obtained results are in good agreement with the theoretical prediction.     

Polycaproamide films containing ionic liquids: Microstructure and properties

Films of polycaproamide and its composites containing ionic liquids (ILs) derived from 1-methyl-3-ethylimidazolium cation and N(CF₃SO₂)₂ or N(CN)₂ anions having crystalline structures were cast from solutions in formic acid. The structure and concentration of the ILs were shown to affect the conductivity (up to ∼10⁻⁴ S cm⁻¹ 25°C), microstructure (studied by X-ray diffraction, SEM, and AFM), and thermomechanical properties of the films.     

Surface structures of equimolar mixtures of imidazolium-based ionic liquids using high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy

Surface structures of equimolar mixtures of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) having a common cation (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C₄MIM]) or 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium ([C₆MIM])) and different anions (bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide ([TFSI]), hexafluorophosphate ([PF₆]) or chlorine) are studied using high-resolution Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (HRBS). Both cations and anions have the same preferential orientations at the surface as in the pure ILs. In the mixture, the larger anion is located shallower than the smaller anion. The [TFSI] anion is slightly enriched at the surface relative to [PF₆] with coverage of ~ 60% for the equimolar mixtures of [C₄₍₆₎MIM] [TFSI] and [C₄₍₆₎MIM] [PF₆]. No surface segregation is observed for [C₆MIM] [TFSI]_0.5[Cl]_0.5 and [C₆MIM] [PF₆]_0.5[Cl]_0.5. These results are different from the recent TOF-SIMS measurement where very strong surface segregation of [TFSI] was concluded for the mixture of [C₄MIM] [TFSI] and [C₄MIM] [PF₆].     

X-ray diffraction studies of intercalation compounds prepared from aniline salts and montmorillonite by a mechanochemical processing

Inorganic-organic intercalation compounds comprised of montmorillonite (MMT) and aniline salts with different counter anions were prepared by a mechanochemical processing. The intercalation process and the formed structure of intercalation compounds were investigated via X-ray diffraction analysis. The amounts of intercalated species were very likely dependent on the types of counter anions and increased with decreasing the size of counter anions during the mechanochemical processing. Very interestingly, much larger interlayer expansions of 1.51 nm was observed for aniline hydrofluoride AnF- and aniline hydrochloride AnCl-MMT systems in higher intercalates loading levels, suggesting that neutral guest molecules also introduce within the interlayer regions together with anilinium cations by van der Waals interactions. Judging from the larger interlayer expansions and the size of guest molecules, intercalated species are expected to prefer a tri-molecular layer arrangement with their aromatic rings perpendicular to the silicate sheets. In contrast, for aniline hydrobromide AnBr-MMT, the interlayer expansion was ca. 0.52 nm, which reveals that only anilinium cations are introduced by ion exchange and they probably adopt a vertical orientation in the interlayers. It is inferred that aniline hydroiodide AnI-MMT compounds have a heterogeneous structure containing both anilinium and sodium cations in the interlayers. Different intercalation behaviors during the mechanochemical processing strongly suggest the smaller the size of counter anions, the more guest molecules can be intercalated into the confined clay interlayers in highly ordered arrangements.