6533b7d4fe1ef96bd12633e9
RESEARCH PRODUCT
Direct experimental observation of mesoscopic fluorous domains in fluorinated room temperature ionic liquids
Alessandro TrioloF. Lo CelsoOlga RussinaFranca CastiglioneMonica FerroAndrea MeleCharl J. JaftaYukihiro Yoshidasubject
General Physics and AstronomyNanotechnology02 engineering and technologyNeutron scattering010402 general chemistryLAYER CAPACITOR APPLICATIONS; PERFLUOROALKYL SIDE-CHAINS; ANGLE NEUTRON-SCATTERING; PARTICLE MESH EWALD; PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES; FORCE-FIELD; CATION SYMMETRY; STRUCTURAL-CHARACTERIZATION; AMMONIUM TETRAFLUOROBORATE; MOLECULAR SIMULATION01 natural sciencesionic liquidsionic liquids SANS nanostructuration fluorous domains NMR NOEchemistry.chemical_compoundMolecular dynamicsPhysics and Astronomy (all)nanostructurationMoietyPhysical and Theoretical ChemistryAlkylNOEchemistry.chemical_classificationfluorous domainsMesoscopic physicsSANSNuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy021001 nanoscience & nanotechnologyNMR0104 chemical sciencesfluorinated ionic liquids neutron scattering x-ray diffraction structurechemistryChemical physicsIonic liquidPolar0210 nano-technologydescription
Fluorinated room temperature ionic liquids (FRTILs) represent a class of solvent media that are attracting great attention due to their IL-specific properties as well as features stemming from their fluorous nature. Medium-to-long fluorous tails constitute a well-defined apolar moiety in the otherwise polar environment. Similarly to the case of alkyl tails, such chains are expected to result in the formation of self-assembled fluorous domains. So far, however, no direct experimental observation has been made of the existence of such structural heterogeneities on the nm scale. We report here the first experimental evidence of the existence of mesoscopic spatial segregation of fluorinated domains, on the basis of highly complementary X-ray and neutron scattering data sets (highlighting the importance of the latter probe) and NMR spectroscopy. Data are interpreted using atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, emphasizing the existence of a self-assembly mechanism that delivers segregated fluorous domains, where preferential solubilisation of fluorinated compounds can occur, thus paving the way for several smart applications.
| year | journal | country | edition | language |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-05-11 |