Maiko Kofu

Heterogeneous Slow Dynamics of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids Studied by Neutron Spin Echo

We have investigated structure and relaxation phenomena for ionic liquids 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (C8mimPF6) and bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (C8mimTFSI) by means of neutron diffraction and neutron spin echo (NSE) techniques. The diffraction patterns show two distinct peaks appeared at scattering vectors Q of 0.3 and 1.0 Å(-1). The former originates from the nanoscale structure characteristic to ionic liquids and the latter due to the interionic correlations. Interestingly, the intensity of the low-Q peak drastically grows upon cooling and keeps growing even below the glass transition temperature. The NSE measurements have been performed at these two Q positions, to explore the time evolution of each correlation. The relaxation related to the ionic correlation (ionic diffusion) is of Arrhenius-type and exhibits nonexponential behavior. The activation energy (Ea) of the ionic diffusion, which is linked to viscosity, depends on the type of anion; the larger is the anion size, the smaller Ea becomes for most of anions. On the other hand, two kinds of relaxation processes, slower and faster ones, are found at the low-Q peak position. The most significant finding is that the fraction of the slower relaxation increases and that of the faster one decreases upon cooling. Combining the NSE data with the diffraction data, we conclude that there exist two parts in ILs: one with the ordered nanostructure exhibiting the slow relaxation, and the other with disordered structure showing faster relaxation. The structure and dynamics of ILs are heterogeneous in nature, and the fraction of each part changes with temperature.

Hierarchical structure and dynamics of an ionic liquid 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride

We have performed the heat capacity, neutron diffraction, and neutron quasielastic scattering measurements of an ionic liquid 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (C8mimCl). The heat capacity data revealed that C8mimCl exhibits a glass transition with a large heat capacity jump at T(g) = 214 K, which is lower than T(g) of C4mimCl with a shorter alkyl-chain. In the neutron diffraction measurement for a deuterated analogue, d-C8mimCl, the peaks associated with the inter-domain, inter-ionic, and inter-alkyl-chain correlations appeared at (3, 11, and 14) nm(-1), respectively. The temperature dependence of these peaks indicates that the packing of the alkyl-chains becomes more compact and the domains become more vivid and larger as decreasing temperature. The quasielastic neutron scattering measurements using neutron spin echo and time-of-flight type instruments demonstrated that C8mimCl has faster relaxations probably owing to the alkyl-group and a slower relaxation owing to the ions. The latter relaxation, which is related to the glass transition, is of non-exponential as in the α relaxation of glass-forming molecular liquids. The relaxation of domains could not be observed in the present experiment but should have relaxation times longer than 100 ns. This is the first report to clarify temperature dependence of the hierarchical structure and relaxations simultaneously for a typical ionic liquid.

Linear trinuclear Zn(II)-Ce(III)-Zn(II) complex which behaves as a single-molecule magnet.

Linear Zn(II)-Ce(III)-Zn(II) complex, which involves only one 4f electron as a spin source, behaves as an SMM. Easy-axis magnetic anisotropy for the ground (2)F(5/2) state of Ce(III) was achieved by a uni-axial crystal field, which is formed with four phenoxo oxygens as axial donors with the other five oxygens as equatorial donors.

Thermal and Structural Studies of Imidazolium-Based Ionic Liquids with and without Liquid-Crystalline Phases: The Origin of Nanostructure

To clarify the origin of the nanostructure of ionic liquids (ILs), we have investigated two series of ILs 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (CnmimPF6, n = 4-16, n is an alkyl-carbon number) and 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (CnmimCl, n = 4-14) using differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction techniques. The PF6 samples with n > 13 and the Cl samples with n > 10 exhibited the liquid-crystalline (LC) to liquid (L) phase transitions, as reported before. We found that both samples with smaller n also exhibited the LC to L transitions under supercooled states as far as the ionic motions were not frozen-in at the glass transition temperatures Tg. The Tg of the LC phase was close to that of the L phase, indicating that the characteristic length of the glass transition is shorter than that of the nanostructure. A low-Q peak due to the nanostructure in the L phase and a diffraction peak due to the layer structure in the LC phase appeared at almost the same Q positions in both samples. On the basis of the above results and some thermodynamic analysis, we argue that the nanostructures of ILs are essentially the same as the layer structures in the LC phases.

Quasielastic neutron scattering studies on glass-forming ionic liquids with imidazolium cations

Relaxation processes for imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated by means of an incoherent quasielastic neutron scattering technique. In order to clarify the cation and anion effects on the relaxation processes, ten samples were measured. For all of the samples, we found three relaxations at around 1 ps, 10 ps, and 100 ps-10 ns, each corresponding to the alkyl reorientation, the relaxation related to the imidazolium ring, and the ionic diffusion. The activation energy (Ea) for the alkyl relaxation is insensitive to both anion and alkyl chain lengths. On the other hand, for the imidazolium relaxation and the ionic diffusion processes, Ea increases as the anion size decreases but is almost independent of the alkyl chain length. This indicates that the ionic diffusion and imidazolium relaxation are governed by the Coulombic interaction between the core parts of the cations (imidazolium ring) and the anions. This is consistent with the fact that the imidazolium-based ILs have nanometer scale structures consisting of ionic and neutral (alkyl chain) domains. It is also found that there is a clear correlation between the ionic diffusion and viscosity, indicating that the ionic diffusion is mainly associated with the glass transition which is one of the characteristics of imidazolium-based ILs.

Microscopic insights into ion gel dynamics using neutron spectroscopy

We have investigated the microscopic dynamics of ion gels consisting of a PMMA [poly(methyl methacrylate)] network and EMITFSI [1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide] as the ionic liquid by means of quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS). These ion gels interestingly exhibit two glass transitions (Tgs) which drastically decrease as the ionic liquid content increases. QENS allows us to probe the dynamics of PMMA and the EMI [1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium] cation separately, by selectively deuterating the individual components, and gain insight into the glassy properties of this system. A comprehensive analysis of the QENS spectra was performed, revealing a number of characteristic relaxations, including intramolecular ones, each of which was assigned. We found that the activation energy for PMMA diffusion decreases with increasing ionic liquid content, corresponding to the plasticization of the polymer. The ionic liquid showed two characteristic relaxations: a motion strongly coupled to the motion of PMMA which we argue to be the motion of part of the ionic liquid which is bound to the PMMA giving rise to a higher effective Tg and an ionic diffusion associated with ionic liquid molecules far from the polymer chains which behave nearly as free liquid, exhibiting a lower Tg.

A novel isomorphic phase transition in β-pyrochlore oxide KOs2O6: a study using high resolution neutron powder diffraction

We have carried out adiabatic calorimetric and neutron powder diffraction experiments on the β-pyrochlore oxide KOs(2)O(6), which has a superconducting transition at T(c) = 9.6 K and another novel transition at T(p) = 7.6 K. A characteristic feature of this compound is that the K ions exhibit rattling vibrations in the cages formed by O atoms even at very low temperatures. The temperature and entropy of the T(p) transition is in good agreement with previous data measured using a heat relaxation method, indicating that the present sample is of high purity and the transition entropy, 0.296 J K(-1) mol(-1), does not depend on the calorimetric method used. The neutron powder diffraction data show no peak splitting nor extra peaks over the temperature range between 2 and 295 K, suggesting that the T(p) transition is a rather unusual isomorphic transition. Rietveld analysis revealed an anomalous expansion of the lattice and a deformation of the O atom cage below 7.6 K. In the low-temperature phase, the distribution of scattering density corresponding to the K ions becomes broader whilst maintaining its maximum at the cage center. Based on these findings, we suggest that the T(p) transition is due to the expansion of the cage volume and cooperative condensation of the K ions into the ground state of the rattling motion.

Nanometer-Size Effect on Hydrogen Sites in Palladium Lattice.

Nanometer-sized materials attract much attention because their physical and chemical properties are substantially different from those of bulk materials owing to their size and surface effects. In this work, neutron powder diffraction experiments on the nanoparticles of palladium hydride, which is the most popular metal hydride, have been performed at 300, 150, and 44 K to investigate the positions of the hydrogen atoms in the face-centered cubic (fcc) lattice of palladium. We used high-quality PdD0.363 nanocrystals with a diameter of 8.0 ± 0.9 nm. The Rietveld analysis revealed that 30% of D atoms are located at the tetrahedral (T) sites and 70% at the octahedral (O) sites. In contrast, only the O sites are occupied in bulk palladium hydride and in most fcc metal hydrides. The temperature dependence of the T-site occupancy suggested that the T-sites are occupied only in a limited part, probably in the subsurface region, of the nanoparticles. This is the first study to determine the hydrogen sites in metal nanoparticles.

Heat Capacities and Glass Transitions of Ion Gels

We have investigated thermodynamic properties of ion gels consisting of a PMMA [poly(methyl methacrylate)] network and EMITFSI [1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide] ionic liquid by means of an adiabatic calorimeter. The heat capacity data were measured in the temperature range between 5 and 375 K for 7 samples with x = 0 (pure PMMA), 0.10, 0.18, 0.27, 0.48, 0.65, and 1.0 (pure ionic liquid) where x is a mole fraction of EMITFSI. These data revealed that two broad but distinct glass transitions appeared in the low x region. The upper glass transition is mainly due to the freezing of the PMMA motion, while the lower one is due to the ionic liquid. The upper glass transition temperature T(g) drastically decreased with increasing x, reflecting a large plasticization effect observed in mechanical experiments. The x dependence of the T(g)s and the excess heat capacities gave new physical insight to the interaction between polymer and ionic liquid in ion gels.

Relaxation in a Prototype Ionic Liquid: Influence of Water on the Dynamics

The influence of water on the relaxation of a prototype ionic liquid (IL) C8mimBF4 is examined in the IL-rich regime combining quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The QENS and MD simulations results for relaxation of IL and the equimolar mixture with water probed by the dynamics of the C8mim hydrogen atoms in the time range of 2 ps to 1 ns are in excellent agreement. The QENS data show that translational relaxation increases by a factor of 7 on the addition of water, while rotational relaxation involving multiple processes fitted by a KWW function with low β values is speeded up by a factor of 3 on the time scale of QENS measurements. The MD simulations show that the cation diffusion coefficient, inverse viscosity, and ionic conductivity increase on the addition of water, consistent with the very small change in ionicity. The difficulties in obtaining rotational and translational diffusion coefficients from fits to QENS experiments of pure ILs and IL-water mixtures are discussed.