Spectral deconvolution in electrophoretic NMR to investigate the migration of neutral molecules in electrolytes

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A volume-based description of transport in incompressible liquid electrolytes and its application to ionic liquids

Transference numbers play an important role in understanding the dynamics of electrolytes and assessing their performance in batteries. Unfortunately, these transport parameters are difficult to measure in highly concentrated liquid electrolytes such as ionic liquids. Also, the interpretation of their sign and magnitude has provoked an ongoing debate in the literature further complicated by the use of different languages. In this work, we highlight the role of the reference frame for the interpretation of transport parameters using our novel thermodynamically consistent theory for highly correlated electrolytes. We argue that local volume conservation is a key principle in incompressible liquid electrolytes and use the volume-based drift velocity as a reference. We apply our general framework to electrophoretic NMR experiments. For ionic liquid based electrolytes, we find that the results of the eNMR measurements can be best described using this volume-based description. This highlights the limitations of the widely used center-of-mass reference frame which for example forms the basis for molecular dynamics simulations – a standard tool for the theoretical calculation of transport parameters. It shows that the assumption of local momentum conservation is incorrect in those systems on the macroscopic scale

Local volume conservation in concentrated electrolytes is governing charge transport in electric fields

While ion transport processes in concentrated electrolytes, e.g. based on ionic liquids (IL), are a subject of intense research, the role of conservation laws and reference frames is still a matter of debate. Employ-ing electrophoretic NMR, we show that momentum conservation, a typical prerequisite in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, is not governing ion transport. Involving density measurements to deter-mine molar volumes of distinct ion species, we propose that conservation of local molar species volumes is the governing constraint for ion transport. The experimentally quantified net volume flux is found as zero, implying a non-zero local momentum flux, as tested in pure ILs and IL-based electrolytes for a broad variety of concentrations and chemical compositions. This constraint is consistent with incom-pressibility, but not with a local application of momentum conservation. The constraint affects the calcu-lation of transference numbers as well as comparisons of MD results to experimental findings

Supramolecular ionogels prepared with bis(amino alcohol)oxamides as gelators: ionic transport and mechanical properties

Supramolecular ionogels composed of an ionic liquid (IL) immobilized in a network of self- assembled low-molecular weight molecules have been attracting considerable interest due to their applicability as smart electrolytes for various electrochemical applications. Despite considerable scientific effort in this field, the design of a mechanically and thermally stable yet highly conductive supramolecular ionogels still remains a challenge. In this article, we report on a series of novel ionogels of three ILs containing different cations (imidazolium/pyrrolidinium) and anions (tetrafluoroborate/bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide) prepared using (S, S)-bis(amino alcohol)oxamides as gelators. The gelation behaviour of the oxamide compound depends strongly on the structural features of amino alcohol substituents. Among them, (S, S)- bis(valinol)oxamide (capable of gelling all three ILs) and (S, S)-bis(phenylalaninol)oxamide (capable of gelling ILs based on bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide with a concentration as low as ≈0.2 wt%) are highly efficient. All investigated supramolecular ionogels retain the high ionic conductivity and ion diffusion coefficients of their parent IL, even for high gelator concentrations. Further, at low temperatures we observe an enhancement of the ionic conductivity in ionogels of (i) 1- butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate which can be attributed to specific interactions between ionic species and gelator molecules and (ii) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide due to inhibited crystallization. In contrast to ionic transport, mechanical strength of the ionogels shows a wider variation depending on the type and concentration of the oxamide gelator. Among all the ionogels, that of 1-butyl-3- methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide prepared with 1 wt% (S, S)-bis(phenylalaninol)oxamide exhibits the best performance: optical transparency, stability over a wide temperature range, high conductivity and high mechanical strength. The results presented here reveal the versatile nature of bis(amino alcohol)oxamides as gelators and their high potential for preparing functionalized IL-based materials

Interplay of the Influence of Crosslinker Content and Model Drugs on the Phase Transition of Thermoresponsive PNiPAM-BIS Microgels

The phase transition behavior of differently crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)/N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (PNiPAM/BIS) microgels with varying crosslinker content is investigated in presence of aromatic additives. The influence of meta-hydroxybenzaldehyde (m-HBA) and 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde (2,4-DHBA), chosen as model drugs, on the volume phase transition temperature (VPTT) is analyzed by dynamic light scattering (DLS), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and 1H-NMR, monitoring and comparing the structural, calorimetric, and dynamic phase transition, respectively. Generally, the VPTT is found to increase with crosslinker content, accompanied by a drastic decrease of transition enthalpy. The presence of an additive generally decreases the VPTT, but with distinct differences concerning the crosslinker content. While the structural transition is most affected at lowest crosslinker content, the calorimetric and dynamic transitions are most affected for an intermediate crosslinker content. Additive uptake of the collapsed gel is largest for low crosslinked microgels and in case of large additive-induced temperature shifts. Furthermore, as temperature is successively raised, 1H NMR data, aided by spin relaxation rates, reveal an interesting uptake behavior, as the microgels act in a sponge-like fashion including a large initial uptake and a squeeze-out phase above VPTT