The local structure organization and dynamics in lithium borate ionic liquids using molecular dynamics simulation

Despite significant progress in the development of lithium-ion batteries, the majority still rely on electrolytes based on organic solvents. However, single-ion conducting electrolytes offer a promising alternative by mitigating overpotential at the electrode and, thus, increasing the device's lifespan. In a recent study, Guzman-Gonzalez et al. (Adv. Energy Mater., 2022, 2202974) presented a novel approach to designing a new class of lithium ionic liquids, based on tetracoordinated boron atom with oligoethylene glycol groups and different fluorinated electron-withdrawing groups. To gain insights into the structural and dynamic aspects underlying the high ionic conductivity of these electrolytes, molecular dynamics simulations were employed. Our results establish a relationship between the variation in ionic conductivity and the extent of uncorrelated motion among the counterions. This phenomenon was explained by differences in the rate of ion coordination dynamics

Local Structure in Terms of Nearest-Neighbor Approach in 1-Butyl-3-methylimidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids: MD Simulations

Description of the local microscopic structure in ionic liquids (ILs) is a prerequisite to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the influence of the nature of ions on the properties of ILs. The local structure is mainly determined by the spatial arrangement of the nearest neighboring ions. Therefore, the main interaction patterns in ILs, such as cation–anion H-bond-like motifs, cation–cation alkyl tail aggregation, and ring stacking, were considered within the framework of the nearest-neighbor approach with respect to each particular interaction site. We employed classical molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to study in detail the spatial, radial, and orientational relative distribution of ions in a set of imidazolium-based ILs, in which the 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (C₄mim⁺) cation is coupled with the acetate (OAc^–), chloride (Cl^–), tetrafluoroborate (BF₄^–), hexafluorophosphate (PF₆^–), trifluoromethanesulfonate (TfO^–), or bis­(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)­amide (TFSA^–) anion. It was established that several structural properties are strongly anion-specific, while some can be treated as universally applicable to ILs, regardless of the nature of the anion. Namely, strongly basic anions, such as OAc^– and Cl^–, prefer to be located in the imidazolium ring plane next to the C–H^2/4–5 sites. By contrast, the other four bulky and weakly coordinating anions tend to occupy positions above/below the plane. Similarly, the H-bond-like interactions involving the H² site are found to be particularly enhanced in comparison with the ones at H^4–5 in the case of asymmetric and/or more basic anions (C₄mimOAc, C₄mimCl, C₄mimTfO, and C₄mimTFSA), in accordance with recent spectroscopic and theoretical findings. Other IL-specific details related to the multiple H-bond-like binding and cation stacking issues are also discussed in this paper. The secondary H-bonding of anions with the alkyl hydrogen atoms of cations as well as the cation–cation alkyl chain aggregation turned out to be poorly sensitive to the nature of the anion

Local structure organization in ionic liquids and molecular solvents mixtures : a molecular dynamics simulation

Ce travail est motivé par l’utilisation dans de nombreux dispositifs électrochimiques des mélanges de liquides ioniques (LIs) à base du cation 1-butyl-3-méthylimidazolium (C4mim+) couplés à des anions perfluorés (BF4−, PF6−, TFO−, TFSI−), avec d’autre part des solvants aprotiques polaires tels que l'acétonitrile (AN), la γ-butyrolactone (γ-BL), le carbonate de propylène (PC). Nous avons réalisé des simulations de dynamique moléculaire afin de caractériser la structure locale de ces mélanges. Les variations de la structure microscopique en fonction de la composition du mélange ont été calculées via l’utilisation d’un arsenal de fonctions statistiques avancées, basé sur la structure locale. Celle-ci est largement déterminée par la distribution radiale et orientationelle des plus proches voisins à un ion ou une molécule de référence. Dans un premier temps, la structure locale dans les LIs purs et dans les solvants moléculaires a été analysée. Pour l'ensemble des LIs, il a été établi que les interactions de liaison H de type C-H···X impliquant les atomes d’hydrogène H2,4,5 du cycle imidazolium et les atomes électronégatifs de l’anion sont faibles et peuvent être classés dans l’ordre suivant TFO-, BF4-, PF6-, TFSI-. Pour le solvant pur, nos résultats montrent que les interactions dipôle-dipôle jouent un rôle important dans la structure locale des solvants étudiés, alors que les interactions liaison H dans le PC et le γ-BL sont faibles.Les résultats montrent que dans tous les mélanges LI/solvant moléculaire étudiés, la distribution de l'anion autour du cation n'est pas fortement affectée lorsque la fraction molaire du LI, xIL, varie entre 0,3 et 1,0. Mais pour les valeurs de xIL inférieures à 0,3 les interactions entre cation et anion sont fortement diminuées. Ces résultats corroborent les données publiées sur le comportement du déplacement chimique du proton H² en fonction de xIL. Nos résultats soulignent aussi l'importance des interactions anion-solvant dans la description de la structure locale des mélanges LI/solvant moléculaire.Mixtures of imidazolium ionic liquids (ILs) with perfluorinated anions and dipolar aprotic solvent are promising candidates for electrolytic components used in different electrochemical applications. Current state of technologies requires detailed information on the influence of the mixture composition on the physical and chemical properties of the mixture. This thesis presents a molecular dynamics simulation analysis of the local structure organization of the mixtures of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (C4mim+) ILs with perfluorinated anions (BF4‒, PF6‒, TFO‒, TFSI‒) and dipolar aprotic solvents such as acetonitrile (AN), γ-butyrolactone (GBL) and propylene carbonate (PC). As a first step, the local structure in the neat ILs and molecular solvents has been analyzed. For the set of ILs it was established that H-bonding interactions at the H2 site is strongly enhanced compared to the H4-5 sites in the case of asymmetric and/or strongly basic anions like TFO− or TFSI−. The cation-cation contacts via the aggregation of the butyl chains is much stronger and less anion-dependent than the π+-π+ stacking of the imidazolium rings. For the pure solvent our results show that although the dominant dipole-dipole orientation between a reference molecule and first neighbor is the antiparallel one, while for the subsequent neighbors the antiparallel orientation is gradually weakened in favor of the parallel one. More distant neighbors tend to be parallel to the reference molecule. A deep analysis of the local structure made it possible to identify the presence of weak hydrogen bonds in the selected dipolar solvents. For the mixtures of imidazolium-based ILs the results show that in all the studied IL/molecular solvent mixtures, the distribution of the anion around the cation is not drastically affected in the range of xIL between 1.0 and 0.3 and for further decrease of xIL noticeable changes in the distance characteristics describing the cation and anion hydrogen bonding interactions, occur. These changes are associated with the expected weakening of the cation and anion interactions. These results are in good agreement with the behavior of the 2H chemical shift as a function of xIL. Furthermore, our results point out to the importance of the anion-solvent interactions in describing the local structure in these mixtures

A new potential model for acetonitrile: Insight into the local structure organization

International audienceThorough understanding of the microscopic organization and dynamics of individual constituents is a crucial step in the description and the prediction the properties of electrolyte solutions based on dipolar aprotic solvents such as acetonitrile. For this aim, a new potential (force field) model for acetonitrile was developed on the basis of comprehensive approach comprising quantum chemical calculations, ab initio molecular dynamics simulations and empirical parameterization. The developed potential model is able to reproduce the experimental thermodynamic and dynamic properties of neat acetonitrile in the range of temperatures between 228.15 and 348.15 K. The local structure of neat liquid acetonitrile then was analyzed in a framework of the nearest neighbor approach. It was shown that the distance standard deviations relative to the average distance between the nearest neighbors have a non-linear behavior that was traced back to the changes in the mutual orientation between acetonitrile molecules. The closest neighbors have a dominant antiparallel dipoles orientation with respect to a reference acetonitrile molecule, while for the further nearest neighbors perpendicular and parallel mutual orientation is observed. The nearest neighbors approach in combination with angular distribution functions was used for the estimation of the Kirkwood factor. Our results show that in order to reproduce the corresponding experimental values derived in the framework of the Onsager-Kirkwood-Fröhlich theory, it is necessary to take into account the mutual orientation of the 5–6 nearest neighbors. Although the atomic charges, on N and the methyl group hydrogen atoms, are negative, the values of the N ⋯ H distance and the N ⋯ H–C (methyl group), are compatible with a weak hydrogen bond between the two atoms

New Force Field Model for Propylene Glycol: Insight to Local Structure and Dynamics

In this work we developed a new force field model (FFM) for propylene glycol (PG) based on the OPLS all-atom potential. The OPLS potential was refined using quantum chemical calculations, taking into account the densities and self-diffusion coefficients. The validation of this new FFM was carried out based on a wide range of physicochemical properties, such as density, enthalpy of vaporization, self-diffusion coefficients, isothermal compressibility, surface tension, and shear viscosity. The molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed over a large range of temperatures (293.15–373.15 K). The comparison with other force field models, such as OPLS, CHARMM27, and GAFF, revealed a large improvement of the results, allowing a better agreement with experimental data. Specific structural properties (radial distribution functions, hydrogen bonding and spatial distribution functions) were then analyzed in order to support the adequacy of the proposed FFM. Pure propylene glycol forms a continuous phase, displaying no microstructures. It is shown that the developed FFM gives rise to suitable results not only for pure propylene glycol but also for mixtures by testing its behavior for a 50 mol % aqueous propylene glycol solution. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the addition of water to the PG phase produces a homogeneous solution and that the hydration interactions prevail over the propylene glycol self-association interactions