Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Journal of Physical Chemistry C
5 years ago

Effect of Variation in Anion Type and Glyme Length on the Nanostructure of the Solvate Ionic Liquid/Graphite Interface as a Function of Potential

Effect of Variation in Anion Type and Glyme Length on the Nanostructure of the Solvate Ionic Liquid/Graphite Interface as a Function of Potential
Hua Li, Masayoshi Watanabe, Kazuhide Ueno, Andre Cook, Rob Atkin
Atomic force microscope (AFM) force curves are used to probe the effect of anion species and glyme length on the nanostructure of the solvate ionic liquid (SIL)/highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) interface as a function of applied potential. At all potentials, the lithium tetraglyme bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (Li(G4)TFSI)/HOPG is more structured than lithium tetraglyme bis(perfluoroethylsulfonyl)imide (Li(G4)BETI)/HOPG because [BETI]− has greater conformational flexibility. The Li(G3) trifluoroacetate (TFA)/HOPG interface is even more disordered because [TFA]− coordinates strongly to the lithium ion, leading to a high concentration of free glyme. The Li(G3)TFSI/HOPG interface is more structured than the Li(G4)TFSI/HOPG interface because the longer glyme increases the molecular flexibility of the complex cation. The Li(G1)2TFSI/HOPG interface has weak interfacial structure because monoglyme is poorly coordinating so the free glyme concentration is high. Despite Li(G3)TFSI, Li(G4)TFSI, and Li(G4)BETI being good SILs (meaning the free glyme concentration is low), application of a negative potential to the HOPG surface leads to the desolvation of Li+ from the glyme at the surface.

Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b03414

DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.7b03414

You might also like
Discover & Discuss Important Research

Keeping up-to-date with research can feel impossible, with papers being published faster than you'll ever be able to read them. That's where Researcher comes in: we're simplifying discovery and making important discussions happen. With over 19,000 sources, including peer-reviewed journals, preprints, blogs, universities, podcasts and Live events across 10 research areas, you'll never miss what's important to you. It's like social media, but better. Oh, and we should mention - it's free.

  • Download from Google Play
  • Download from App Store
  • Download from AppInChina

Researcher displays publicly available abstracts and doesn’t host any full article content. If the content is open access, we will direct clicks from the abstracts to the publisher website and display the PDF copy on our platform. Clicks to view the full text will be directed to the publisher website, where only users with subscriptions or access through their institution are able to view the full article.