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Ion structure controls ionic liquid near-surface and interfacial nanostructure

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journal contribution
posted on 2025-05-10, 10:47 authored by Aaron Elbourne, Kislon Voïtchovsky, Gregory G. Warr, Rob Atkin
A unique, but unifying, feature of ionic liquids (ILs) is that they are nanostructured on the length scale of the ions; in many ILs well-defined polar and apolar domains exist and may percolate through the liquid. Near a surface the isotropic symmetry of the bulk structure is broken, resulting in different nanostructures which, until now, have only been studied indirectly. In this paper, in situ amplitude modulated atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) has been used to resolve the 3-dimensional nanostructure of five protic ILs at and near the surface of mica. The surface and near surface structures are distinct and remarkably well-defined, but are very different from previously accepted descriptions. Interfacial nanostructure is strongly influenced by the registry between cations and the mica surface charge sites, whereas near surface nanostructure is sensitive to both cation and anion structure. Together these ILs reveal how interfacial nanostructure can be tuned through ion structure, informing "bottom-up" design and optimisation of ILs for diverse technologies including heterogeneous catalysis, lubrication, electrochemical processes, and nanofluids.

Funding

ARC

DP120102708

FT120100313

LE110100235

History

Journal title

Chemical Science

Volume

6

Issue

1

Pagination

527-536

Publisher

Royal Society of Chemistry

Place published

London

Language

  • en, English

College/Research Centre

Faculty of Science and Information Technology

School

School of Environmental and Life Sciences

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