RESUMO
It was found that Li[BOB]·nH2O salts were not readily suitable for the synthesis of high-purity orthoborate-based tetraalkylphosphonium ionic liquids, as exemplified here for trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(oxalato)borate, [P6,6,6,14][BOB]; along with [BOB]-, a metastable transition anionic complex (TAC) of dihydroxy(oxalato)borate with oxalic acid, [B(C2O4)(OH)2·(HOOC-COOH)]-, was also formed and passed into the ionic liquid in the course of the metathesis reaction with trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride. On the contrary, Na[BOB] was found to be a more suitable reagent for the synthesis of this IL, because [BOB]- anions safely passed into the final IL without hydrolysis, when metathesis reactions were performed using aqueous-free media. Since ultra-pure Na[BOB] is not commercially available, in this work, a preparation protocol for ultra-pure (>99%) Na[BOB] was developed: (i) molar ratios of boric and oxalic acids were optimised to minimise boron-containing impurities, (ii) the Na[BOB] product was thoroughly purified by sequential washing of a fine powder product in hot acetonitrile and ethanol and (iii) characterised using powder X-ray diffraction and solid-state 11B MAS NMR spectroscopy. The physico-chemical properties of the prepared boron-impurity-free IL, i.e., its density, viscosity, electric conductivity, glass-transition temperature and thermal stability, were found to be significantly different from those of the previously reported [P6,6,6,14][BOB], containing ca. 45 mol% of TAC, [B(C2O4)(OH)2·(HOOC-COOH)]-. It was found that a high-purity [P6,6,6,14][BOB] prepared in this work has a considerably lower viscosity, a higher viscosity index and a wider electro-chemical window (ECW) compared to those of the sample of [P6,6,6,14][BOB] with ca. 45 mol% of TAC. Interestingly, [B(C2O4)(OH)2·(HOOC-COOH)]- in the latter sample almost completely transformed into [BOB]- anions upon heating of the IL sample at 413 K for 1 hour, as confirmed using both 11B and 13C NMR. Therefore, in this work, apart from a well-optimised synthetic protocol for boron-impurity-free [P6,6,6,14][BOB], implications of boron-containing transition anionic complexes in tetraalkylphosphonium-orthoborate ILs used in different applications were highlighted.
RESUMO
We have studied the rheological behavior of the ionic liquid trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(mandelato)borate, [P66614][BMB], and compared it with that of another ionic liquid, namely trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium chloride, [P66614][Cl]. The non-halogenated [P66614][BMB] has been selected as it is known to provide enhanced lubrication performance and is, consequently, of technological importance. The ionic liquid [P66614][Cl], despite its relatively simple anion, exhibits viscosities very similar to those of [P66614][BMB], making it an excellent reference fluid for the modeling study. The viscosities of the ionic liquids have been obtained by equilibrium atomistic simulations using the Green-Kubo relation, and by performing nonequilibrium shear flow simulations. The influence of the simulation system size and a reduction of the atomic charges on the viscosities of the ionic liquids are systematically studied. The atomic charges are reduced to mimic the temperature dependent charge transfer and polarization effects. It has been found that scaling the point charges with factors between 0.60 and 0.80 from full ion charges can provide reliable viscosities of [P66614][BMB], consistent with the experimentally measured viscosities within the studied temperature interval from 373 to 463 K. The viscosities of [P66614][Cl] have been obtained with scaling factors between 0.80 and 1.0 reflecting the lower polarizability and charge transfer effects of the chloride anion.
RESUMO
It is demonstrated that a phosphonium orthoborate ionic liquid may serve as a wear reducing additive in biodegradable oils at steel-steel surfaces in the boundary lubrication regime. Tribological tests were performed in a ball-on-three plate configuration. A set of surface characterization techniques-SEM/EDS, FIB and white light interferometry were used to characterize surfaces following the tribotests and to observe the formation of any tribofilms. 11B NMR was used to follow changes in the composition of the ionic-liquid-oil blends and to identify boron-containing decomposition products after the tribotests. The ionic liquid reduces the wear of steel surfaces by up to 92% compared to the neat oil at 90°C; it is shown that the reduction in wear can be correlated with the formation of boron enriched patches in the boundary films.