Structure and Dynamics of Ionic Liquids in Bulk and at Interfaces

Ionic liquids, or molten salts that are liquid are room temperature, provide both a range of fascinating properties, as well as a wide array of uses in applications for energy technologies. All of the ionic liquids we have studied are fragile glass-formers, have negligible vapor pressures, and exhibit a significant degree of ordering in the liquid phase. This ordering results both from the strong Coulombic interactions between ions, but also from van der Waals interactions from hydrophobic functional groups attached to the molecular ions. When both hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon substituents are used to functionalize the anions and cations of the ionic liquids, a number of intriguing properties result. Results from synchrotron X-ray scattering, PG-SE NMR experiments, angle-resolved XPS experiments, and AFM experiments will be contrasted with results from molecular dynamics simulations.