The bulk structure of protic ionic liquid (PIL) / solute mixtures is described using neutron diffraction and empirical potential structure refinement data fits. The solutes examined include water, glycerol, octanol, Li+, Mg2+, Ca2+ and Al3+. Water neither simply dilutes the molecularly dispersed ions of a PIL, nor does it just swell the polar region of the existing PIL nanostructure. Instead interactions between water and the charged groups of the PIL change the PIL - water interfacial curvature, transforming it into a related, but different, nanostructure. Glycerol molecules preferentially interact with charged domains within the PIL. The carbon atoms of the glycerol form a hydrocarbon channel within the charged region. Octanol self assembles to form a sponge-like structure within the PIL bulk, while relatively small concentrations of inorganic salts can induce significantly different nanostructure in PILs. Results for the bulk mixtures will be compared to the nanostructure found near a solid surface.

Solvation and structure in protic ionic liquids

248th National Meeting (2014)

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