RESUMO
Phosphonium ionic liquids with orthoborate anions have been studied in terms of their interfacial film formation, both physisorbed and sacrificial from chemical breakdown, in sheared contacts of varying harshness. The halogen-free anion architecture was varied through (i) the heteronuclear ring size, (ii) the hybridisation of the constituent atoms, and (iii) the addition of aryl functionalities. Time of Flight-Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry analysis revealed the extent of sacrificial tribofilm formation allowing the relative stability of the ionic liquids under tribological conditions to be determined and their breakdown mechanisms to be compared to simple thermal decomposition. Overall, ionic liquids outperformed reference oils as lubricants; in some cases, sacrificial films were formed (with anion breakdown a necessary precursor to phosphonium cation decomposition) while in other cases, a protective, self-assembly lubricant layer or hybrid film was formed. The salicylate-based anion was the most chemically stable and decomposed only slightly even under the harshest conditions. It was further found that surface topography influenced the degree of breakdown through enhanced material transport and replenishment. This work thus unveils the relationship between ionic liquid composition and structure, and the ensuing inter- and intra-molecular interactions and chemical stability, and demonstrates the intrinsic tuneability of an ionic liquid lubrication technology.
RESUMO
Solvate ionic liquids are a relatively new class of liquids produced by combining a coordinating solvent with a salt. They have a variety of uses and their suitability for such depends upon the ratio of salt to coordinating solvent. This work investigates the Kamlet-Taft solvent parameters of, NMR chemical shifts of nuclei in, and thermoelectrochemistry of a selected set of solvate ionic liquids produced from glymes (methyl terminated oligomers of ethylene glycol) and lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide at two different compositions. The aim is to improve the understanding of the interactions occurring in these ionic liquids to help select suitable solvate ionic liquids for future applications.
RESUMO
Entropic changes inherent within a redox process typically result in significant temperature sensitivity. This can be utilised positively or can be a detrimental process. This study has investigated the thermoelectrochemical properties (temperature-dependant electrochemistry) of the ferrocenium|ferrocene redox couple in an ionic liquid, and in particular the effect of covalently tethering this redox couple to fixed positive or negative charges. As such, the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide was employed to dissolve ferrocene, as well as cationic-tethered ferrocene (the 1-ethyl-3-(methylferrocenyl)imidazolium cation) and anionic-tethered ferrocene (the ferrocenylsulfonyl(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion). These systems were characterised in terms of their voltammetry (apparent formal potentials, diffusion coefficients and electron transfer rate constants) and thermoelectrochemistry (temperature coefficients of the cell potential or 'Seebeck coefficients', short circuit current densities and power density outputs). The oxidised cationic species behaved like a dicationic species and was thus 6-fold more effective at converting waste thermal energy to electrical power within a thermoelectrochemical cell than unmodified ferrocene. This was almost exclusively due to a significant boost in the Seebeck coefficient of this redox couple. Conversely, the oxidised anionic species was formally a zwitterion, but this zwitterionic species behaved thermodynamically like a neutral species. The inverted entropic change upon going from ferrocene to anion-tethered ferrocene allowed development of a largely temperature-insensitive reference potential based upon a mixture of acetylferrocene and ferricenyl(iii)sulfonyl(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide.
RESUMO
Thermoelectrochemistry offers a simple, scalable technique for direct conversion of waste heat into useful electricity. Here the thermoelectrochemical properties of lithium-glyme solvate ionic liquids, as well as their dilute electrolyte analogues, have been investigated using mixtures of tetraglyme (G4, tetraethylene glycol dimethyl ether) and lithium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (Li[NTf2]). The thermoelectrochemical process is entropically-driven by release of the glyme from the lithium-glyme complex cation, due to electrodeposition of lithium metal at the hotter lithium electrode with concomitant electrodissolution at the cooler lithium electrode. The optimum ratio for thermochemical electricity generation is not the solvate ionic liquid (equimolar mixture of Li[NTf2] and glyme), but rather one Li[NTf2] to four G4, due to the mixtures relatively high ionic conductivity and good apparent Seebeck coefficient (+1.4 mV K(-1)). Determination of the lithium-glyme mixture thermal conductivity enabled full assessment of the Figure of Merit (ZT), and the efficiency relative to the Carnot efficiency to be determined. As the lithium electrodeposits are porous, alternating the temperature gradient results in a system that actually improves with repeated use.
