Structural and vibrational properties of diglyme and longer glymes.

The conformational states of diglyme in both the solid and liquid states have been determined by an integrated use of both IR and Raman spectroscopy together with ab initio/density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Using knowledge from diglyme also made possible the study of the conformational state of longer glymes, including a quantitative study of the D-LAM mode. We hereby unambiguously can assign the (tgt)(n) conformational state to all glymes and PEO in the solid state.

Spectroscopic identification of the lithium ion transporting species in LiTFSI-doped ionic liquids.

The solvation of the lithium ion in LiTFSI-doped ionic liquids based on alkyl-substituted imidazolium cations and bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anions (TFSI-) was investigated by infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The spectral changes occurring for some TFSI- vibrations sensitive to the lithium coordination were analyzed with the help of DFT calculations. In addition, the vibrations of the lithium ion in its solvating cage were found to produce a broad IR absorption band centered at 374 cm(-1). For low to moderate LiTFSI mole fractions, 0.08 < x < 0.2, the [Li(TFSI)2]- solvating cage was found to involve bidentate coordinations of Li+ with two oxygen atoms of one anion in the trans (C2) conformation and two oxygen atoms of the other anion in the cis (C1) conformation. At higher LiTFSI concentration, up to x = 0.5, the lithium ion-TFSI coordination number progressively becomes less than 2, indicating the possible formation of aggregates.

New interpretation of the CH stretching vibrations in imidazolium-based ionic liquids.

In ionic liquids composed of alkyl-substituted imidazolium cations and weakly coordinating anions such as bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, (CF(3)SO(2))(2)N(-), the stretching vibrations of the imidazolium CH groups are shown to interact by Fermi resonance with the overtones and the combination of two in-plane ring vibrations. This new assignment, based on isotopic substitutions and anharmonic frequency calculations for gas phase cations, implies that these imidazolium cations do not establish any strong and directional C-H...anion hydrogen bond.

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids: quantitative aspects in the far-infrared region.

The optical constants of some imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) are determined in the mid- and far-infrared regions by combining polarized attenuated total reflection (ATR) and transmittance spectra. The internal vibrations of the cations and anions and the interionic vibrations can thus be quantitatively evaluated. A comparison of the far-IR spectral response of several imidazolium derivatives associated with the (CF(3)SO(2))(2)N(-) anion shows that methylation of the more acidic C((2))H imidazolium group does not change the far-IR intensity and hence that the CH...anion hydrogen bonds play a negligible role compared with electrostatic interactions. The calculated spectra of ion-pair dimers reproduce the far-IR density of states better than those of simple ion pairs.

Infrared spectroscopy of ionic liquids: quantitative aspects and determination of optical constants.

The infrared (IR) spectra of ionic liquids involving 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium (BMI) and the (CF(3)SO(2))(2)N(-), BF(4)(-), or PF(6)(-) anions, recorded in the transmission and attenuated total reflection (ATR) modes, exhibit strong differences in the most intense anion absorption profiles. These distortions come from optical effects and make difficult any quantitative analysis of, for example, the antisymmetric stretching vibrations of the BF(4)(-) and PF(6)(-) anions. A method is proposed to determine the optical constants, from which any type of experimental spectrum can be simulated. It is then possible to use the anion vibrational bands as spectroscopic probes of the local interactions occurring in the neat ionic liquids and in solutions. This is illustrated by a direct identification of ion pairs and separated ions in the IR spectra of BMI-PF(6) solutions.

Lithium solvation in bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide-based ionic liquids.

The lithium solvation in (1 -x)(EMI-TFSI), xLiTFSI ionic liquids where EMI(+) is the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium cation and TFSI(-) the bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide anion, is shown by Raman spectroscopy to involve essentially [Li(TFSI)(2)](-) anionic clusters for 0 < x < 0.4, but addition of stoichiometric amounts of solvents S such as oligoethers changes the lithium solvation into [Li(S)(m)](+) cationic clusters; the lithium transference number in TFSI-based ionic liquid electrolytes for lithium batteries should thus be strongly improved.

Proton dynamics in the perchloric acid clathrate hydrate HClO4.5.5H2O.

In the perchloric acid clathrate hydrate HClO4.5.5H2O, the perchlorate anions are contained inside an aqueous host crystalline matrix, positively charged because of the presence of delocalized acidic protons. Our experimental results demonstrate that the microscopic mechanisms of proton conductivity in this system are effective on a time scale ranging from nanosecond to picosecond. In the present paper, we discuss more specifically on the relaxation processes occurring on a nanosecond time scale by combining high-resolution quasielastic neutron scattering and 1H pulse-field-gradient nuclear magnetic resonance experiments. The combination of these two techniques allows us to probe proton dynamics in both space and time domains. The existence of two types of proton dynamical processes has been identified. The slowest one is associated to long-range translational diffusion of protons between crystallographic oxygen sites and has been precisely characterized with a self-diffusion coefficient of 3.5 x 10(-8) cm2/s at 220 K and an activation energy of 29.2+/-1.4 kJ/mol. The fastest dynamical process is due to water molecules' reorientations occurring every 0.7 ns at 220 K with an activation energy of 17.4+/-1.5 kJ/mol. This powerful multitechnique approach provides important information required to understand the microscopic origin of proton transport in an ionic clathrate hydrate.