Ionic liquids (ILs) are smart materials that nowadays find application in several fields such as batteries, solar and fuel cells, nano-tribology, industrial chemistry, separation, catalysis, biomass treatment, to cite just a few. Their mesoscopic morphology is determined by IL’s amphiphilic nature: alkyl tails tend to segregate into apolar domains that are embedded in a three-dimensional polar matrix, build up by charged ionic heads.<br/>The morphology of fluorinated Room Temperature ILs (FRTILs) is even more complex since they are inherently triphilic in nature due to the simultaneous co-presence of both alkyl and fluorinated chains bound to either the cation or the anion (or both). These compounds are attracting great attention because they both possess features arising from their ionic nature as well as from the presence of fluorous moieties.<br/>Recent experimental and theoretical studies demonstrate the mutually exclusive segregation of fluorinated and alkyl tails in domains. Such triphilic micro-heterogeneous structure makes it possible the design ionic liquids with tuneable physical chemical properties, including switchable solvation performance.<br/>I will present recent results from my group on the investigation of FRTILs nanoscale structure. In particular I will stress the role of the highly complementarity of X-Ray and neutron scattering data in accessing unique mesoscopic features in these compounds. Computer simulations will also be used to visualize and rationalise the coexistence of different domains and to create the theoretical basis for further use of these materials in different smart applications.<br/>

Mesoscopic structural organization in triphilic, fluorinated, room temperature ionic liquids

255th National Meeting (2018)

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