Flexibility is the key to tuning the transport properties of fluorinated imide-based ionic liquids

Frederik Philippi; Daniel Rauber; Oriele Palumbo; Kateryna Goloviznina; Jesse McDaniel; David Pugh; Sophia Suarez; Carla C. Fraenza; Agilio Padua; Christopher W. M. Kay; Tom Welton

doi:10.1039/D2SC03074H

Flexibility is the key to tuning the transport properties of fluorinated imide-based ionic liquids†

Frederik Philippi,

^a Daniel Rauber,

^b Oriele Palumbo,

^c Kateryna Goloviznina,‡^d Jesse McDaniel,^e David Pugh,

^f Sophia Suarez,^g Carla C. Fraenza,^h Agilio Padua,

^d Christopher W. M. Kay

^bi and Tom Welton

*^a

Author affiliations

* Corresponding authors

^a Department of Chemistry, Molecular Sciences Research Hub, Imperial College London, White City Campus, London W12 0BZ, UK
E-mail: t.welton@imperial.ac.uk

^b Department of Chemistry, Saarland University, Campus B2.2, Saarbrücken, Germany

^c Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy

^d Laboratoire de Chimie, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, CNRS, 69364 Lyon, France

^e School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

^f Department of Chemistry, King's College London, 7 Trinity Street, London SE1 1DB, UK

^g Department of Physics, Brooklyn College of CUNY, Brooklyn, New York, USA

^h Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hunter College of CUNY, New York, USA

ⁱ London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London, 17–19 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0AH, UK

Abstract

Ionic liquids are becoming increasingly popular for practical applications such as biomass processing and lithium-ion batteries. However, identifying ionic liquids with optimal properties for specific applications by trial and error is extremely inefficient since there are a vast number of potential candidate ions. Here we combine experimental and computational techniques to determine how the interplay of fluorination, flexibility and mass affects the transport properties of ionic liquids with the popular imide anion. We observe that fluorination and flexibility have a large impact on properties such as viscosity, whereas the influence of mass is negligible. Using targeted modifications, we show that conformational flexibility provides a significant contribution to the success of fluorination as a design element. Contrary to conventional wisdom, fluorination by itself is thus not a guarantor for beneficial properties such as low viscosity.

This article is part of the themed collections: 2022 ChemSci Pick of the Week Collection and 2022 Chemical Science HOT Article Collection

Chemical Science

Flexibility is the key to tuning the transport properties of fluorinated imide-based ionic liquids†

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Flexibility is the key to tuning the transport properties of fluorinated imide-based ionic liquids

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