How do subtle ionic associations affect transport in IL electrolytes?  In order to understand such correlations, we must have detailed and quantitative information about the transport of cationic and anionic species, as well as other important actors such as water.  Our group is combining chemically specific (and independent) NMR measurements of both random diffusion and driven electrophoretic mobility in order to fundamentally understand electrolytic performance in ILs and IL/polymer composites.  Measured conductivity (AC or DC) does not cleanly reveal cation/anion mobilities.  We will discuss new electrophoretic and diffusion NMR measurements of cations and anions in neat ILs, their solutions with water, and inside polymers, as well as efforts to combine these measurements to determine ion aggregate populations and transference numbers.  Finally, we present observations of the predominance of negative triple ions (- + -) in dry ILs, which correlate well with complex bending motions IL/polymer �artificial musle� mechanical actuators.

Understanding mobility and aggregation in ionic liquids

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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