Microstructures and dynamics of tetraalkylphosphonium chloride ionic liquids (original) (raw)

Temperature-dependent structure of ionic liquids: X-ray scattering and simulations

2012

In this article we determine the temperature-dependent structure of the tetradecyltrihexylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amide ionic liquid using a combination of X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations. As in many other room-temperature ionic liquids three characteristic intermolecular peaks can be detected in the structure function S(q). A prepeak or first sharp diffraction peak is observed at about q ¼ 0.42 A À1. Long range anion-anion correlations are the most important contributors to this peak. In all systems we have studied to date, this prepeak is a signature of solvation asymmetry. The peak in S(q) near q ¼ 0.75 A À1 is the signature of ionic alternation and arises from the charge ordered separation of ions of the same charge. The most intense diffraction peak near q ¼ 1.37 A À1 arises from short-range separation between ions of opposite charge combined with a significant contribution from cationic carbon-carbon interactions, indicating that cationic hydrophobic tails have significant contacts.

Distinctive Nanoscale Organization of Dicationic versus Monocationic Ionic Liquids

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 2013

The distinctive structural organization of dicationic ionic liquids (DILs) with varying alkyl linkage chain lengths is systematically investigated using classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. In comparison with their counterparts, monocationic ionic liquids (MILs) with free alkyl chains, the DILs with short linkage chains exhibit almost identical structural features regardless of anion types, whereas the long-chain DILs display a relatively insignificant prepeak and low heterogeneity order parameter (HOP), which are accompanied by the less evident structural heterogeneity. Moreover, the predominant role of anion type in the structure of DILs was verified, similar to what is observed in MILs. Finally, the different nanoscale organizations in DILs and MILs are rationalized by the relatively unfavorable straight and folded chain models proposed for the nanoaggregates in DILs and the favorable micelle-like arrangement for those in MILs.

Nanostructural Organization in Ionic Liquids

Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2006

Nanometer-scale structuring in room-temperature ionic liquids is observed using molecular simulation. The ionic liquids studied belong to the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium family with hexafluorophosphate or with bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide as the anions, [C n mim][PF 6 ] or [C n mim][(CF 3 SO 2 ) 2 N], respectively. They were represented, for the first time in a simulation study focusing on long-range structures, by an all-atom force field of the AMBER/OPLS_AA family containing parameters developed specifically for these compounds. For ionic liquids with alkyl side chains longer than or equal to C 4 , aggregation of the alkyl chains in nonpolar domains is observed. These domains permeate a tridimensional network of ionic channels formed by anions and by the imidazolium rings of the cations. The nanostructures can be visualized in a conspicuous way simply by color coding the two types of domains (in this work, we chose red ) polar and green ) nonpolar). As the length of the alkyl chain increases, the nonpolar domains become larger and more connected and cause swelling of the ionic network, in a manner analogous to systems exhibiting microphase separation. The consequences of these nanostructural features on the properties of the ionic liquids are analyzed.

The complex structure of ionic liquids at an atomistic level: from “red-and-greens” to charge templates

Pure and Applied Chemistry, 2000

In this article, we discuss how the relation between interactions and structure in ionic liquids (ILs) can be probed at a molecular level using ab initio and molecular dynamics (MD) methodologies. The first part of the discussion will focus on the unique and complex properties of ILs as pure substances including the existence of an extended and flexible polar network and the possibility of a second nanosegregated subphase containing the nonpolar residues of the molecular ions that constitute some ILs. The discussion will then be extended to IL plus molecular species mixtures/solutions. In this context the concept of ILs as charge templates for the electronic make-up of the molecular species will be analyzed at length. Finally, that concept will be extended to ILs adsorbed over solid substrates.

The Effect of Phenyl Substitutions on Microstructures and Dynamics of Tetraalkylphosphonium Bis(trifluoro‐ methylsulfonyl)imide Ionic Liquids

ChemPhysChem, 2020

Extensive atomistic simulations demonstrated that a gradual substitution of hexyl chains with phenyl groups in tetraalkylphosphonium cations results in remarkable changes in hydrogen bonding interactions, liquid structures and scattering structural functions, and rotational dynamics of hexyl chains and phenyl groups in tetraalkylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ionic liquids. Hydrogen donor sites in hexyl chains present competitive characteristics with those in phenyl groups in coordinating anions, as well as their continuous and intermittent hydrogen bonding dynamics. Cation-cation and anion-anion spatial correlations show concomitant shift to short distances with decreased peak intensities with variations of cation structures, whereas cation-anion correlations have a distinct shift to large ra

Structure and dynamics of ionic liquids: Trimethylsilylpropyl-substituted cations and bis(sulfonyl)amide anions Structure and dynamics of ionic liquids: Trimethylsilylpropyl-substituted cations and bis(sulfonyl)amide anions

Accurate schemes for calculation of thermodynamic properties of liquid mixtures from molecular dynamics simulations J. Chem. Phys. 145, 244504244504 (2016); 10.1063/1.4973001 A hydrated ion model of [UO2]2+ in water: Structure, dynamics, and spectroscopy from classical molecular dynamics J. Chem. Phys. 145, 224502224502 (2016); 10.1063/1.4971432 Hydrogen bonding in the protic ionic liquid triethylammonium nitrate explored by density functional tight binding simulations J. Chem. Phys. 145, 234504234504 (2016); 10.1063/1.4972006 Ion pairing and phase behaviour of an asymmetric restricted primitive model of ionic liquids Ionic liquids with cationic organosilicon groups have been shown to have a number of useful properties, including reduced viscosities relative to the homologous cations with hydrocarbon substituents on the cations. We report structural and dynamical properties of four ionic liquids having a trimethylsi-lylpropyl functional group, including 1-methyl-3-trimethylsilylpropylimidazolium (Si–C 3-mim +) cation paired with three anions: bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI), bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (NTf − 2), and bis(pentafluoroethanesulfonyl)imide (BETI), as well as the analogous N-methyl-N-trimethylsilylpropylpyrrolidinium (Si–C 3-pyrr +) cation paired with NTf − 2. This choice of ionic liquids permits us to systematically study how increasing the size and hydrophobicity of the anions affects the structural and transport properties of the liquid. Structure factors for the ionic liquids were measured using high energy X-ray diffraction and calculated from molecular dynamics simulations. The liquid structure factors reveal first sharp diffraction peaks (FSDPs) for each of the four ionic liquids studied. Interestingly, the domain size for Si–C 3-mim + /NTf − 2 indicated by the maxima for these peaks is larger than for the more polar ionic liquid with a similar chain length, 1-pentamethyldisiloxymethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (SiOSi-mim + /NTf − 2). For the series of Si–C 3-mim + ionic liquids, as the size of the anion increases, the position of FSDP indicates that the intermediate range order domains decrease in size, contrary to expectation. Diffusivities for the anions and cations are compared for a series of both hydrocarbon-substituted and silicon-substituted cations. All of the anions show the same scaling with temperature, size, and viscosity, while the cations show two distinct trends—one for hydrocarbon-substituted cations and another for organosilicon-substituted cations, with the latter displaying increased friction. Published by AIP Publishing. [http://dx.

Understanding the impact of the central atom on the ionic liquid behavior: Phosphonium vs ammonium cations

The Journal of Chemical Physics, 2014

The influence of the cation's central atom in the behavior of pairs of ammonium-and phosphoniumbased ionic liquids was investigated through the measurement of densities, viscosities, melting temperatures, activity coefficients at infinite dilution, refractive indices, and toxicity against Vibrio fischeri. All the properties investigated are affected by the cation's central atom nature, with ammonium-based ionic liquids presenting higher densities, viscosities, melting temperatures, and enthalpies. Activity coefficients at infinite dilution show the ammonium-based ionic liquids to present slightly higher infinite dilution activity coefficients for non-polar solvents, becoming slightly lower for polar solvents, suggesting that the ammonium-based ionic liquids present somewhat higher polarities. In good agreement these compounds present lower toxicities than the phosphonium congeners. To explain this behavior quantum chemical gas phase DFT calculations were performed on isolated ion pairs at the BP-TZVP level of theory. Electronic density results were used to derive electrostatic potentials of the identified minimum conformers. Electrostatic potential-derived CHelpG and Natural Population Analysis charges show the P atom of the tetraalkylphosphonium-based ionic liquids cation to be more positively charged than the N atom in the tetraalkylammonium-based analogous IL cation, and a noticeable charge delocalization occurring in the tetraalkylammonium cation, when compared with the respective phosphonium congener. It is argued that this charge delocalization is responsible for the enhanced polarity observed on the ammonium based ionic liquids explaining the changes in the thermophysical properties observed. © 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

Liquid Structure of Trihexyltetradecylphosphonium Chloride at Ambient Temperature: An X-ray Scattering and Simulation Study

The Journal of Physical Chemistry B, 2009

We report on an experimental and simulation study done on a representative room temperature ionic liquid, namely tetradecyltrihexylphosphonium chloride, at ambient conditions. The study was conducted using small and wide angle X-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations. Both approaches converge in indicating that this material is characterized by the existence of strong P-Cl interactions (with characteristic distances between 3.5 and 5.0 Å) and by the occurrence of nanoscale segregation, despite the symmetric nature of the cation and similarly to other room temperature ionic liquids. A good agreement is found between the structure factor and pair correlation functions obtained from MD simulations and the corresponding experimental observables, thus strongly validating the interaction potential used in the simulations. *

Ionic Liquids

2019

Ionic liquids (ILs) are a special category of molten salts with melting points near ambient temperatures (or by convention below 100°C). Owing to their numerous valuable physicochemical properties as bulk liquids, solvents, at surfaces and in confined environments, ILs have attracted increasing attention in both academic and industrial communities in a variety of application areas involving physics, chemistry, material science and engineering. Due to their nearly limitless number of combinations of cation-anion pairs and mixtures with cosolvents, a molecular level understanding of their hierarchical structures and dynamics, requiring strategies to connect several length and time scales, is of crucial significance for rational design of ILs with desired properties, and thereafter refining their functional performance in applications. As an invaluable compliment to experiments from synthesis to characterization, computational modeling and simulations have significantly increased our understanding on how physicochemical and structural properties of ILs can be controlled by their underlying chemical and molecular structures. In this chapter, we will give examples from our own modeling work based on selected IL systems, with focus on imidazolium-based and tetraalkylphosphonium-orthoborate ILs, studied at several spatio-temporal scales in different environments and with particular attention to applications of high technological interest. We start by describing studies performed using ab initio methods on force field development for tetraalkylphosphonium-orthoborate ILs, and computational studies on thermal decomposition of these ILs. The delicate interplay between hydrogen bonding and π-type interactions in an imidazolium-orthoborate IL was studied by performing ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. On the atomistic level, atomistic simulations were performed with constructed force field parameters to study intrinsic molecular interactions between residual water molecules and tetraalkylphosphoniumorthoborate ionic species. For a typical trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis(oxalato) borate IL at varied concentrations, microstructures and dynamics were systematically analyzed as water concentration increases. The liquid viscosities of typical trihexyltetradecylphosphonium-based ILs were estimated through equilibrium atomistic simulations using Green-Kubo relation with charge scaling factors on ionic species.