Aminopropyl-containing ionic liquid based organosilica as a novel and efficient adsorbent for removal of crystal violet from wastewaters

Herein a novel aminopropyl-containing ionic liquid based organosilica(ILOS-NH_2) is prepared, characterized and applied as effective adsorbent for removal of crystal violet(CV) dye from wastewater. The ILOS-NH2 material was synthesized by hydrolysis and co-condensation of 1,3-bis-(3-trimethoxysilylpropyl)-imidazolium chloride(BTMSPIC) under acidic conditions followed by treatment with 3-aminopropyl-trimethoxysilane in toluene under reflux conditions. This material was characterized using scanning electron microscopy(SEM), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(DRIFTS), thermal gravimetric analysis(TGA) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis(EDAX). The material was effectively used in the removal of crystal violet at ambient temperature and showed high capacity and stability under applied conditions. The efficacy of p H, contact time, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration, temperature, and isotherm studies and the applicability of pseudo-first, second order and Elovich kinetic models have also been investigated.

Ionic liquid crystal-based electrolyte with enhanced charge transport for dye-sensitized solar cells

A room temperature ionic liquid crystal, 1-dodecyl-3-ethylimidazolium iodide （C12EImI）, and an ionic liquid, 1-decyl-3- ethylimidazolium iodide （Cl0EImI）, have been synthesized, characterized and employed as the electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells （DSSC）. The physicochemical properties show that a smectic A （SmA） phase with a lamellar structure is formed in CIzEImI. Both C^2EImI and Cl0EImI have good electrochemical and thermal stability facilitating their use in DSSC. The steady-state voltammograms reveal that the diffusion coefficient of I3- in C^2EImI is larger than that in CmEImI, which is at- tributed to the existence of the SmA phase in Ca2EImI. Because the iodide species are located between the layers of imidazo- lium cations in CjzEImI, exchange reaction-based diffusion is increased with a consequent increase in, the overall diffusion. The electrochemical impedance spectrum reveals that charge recombination at the dyed TiOJelectrolyte interface of a C12EImI-based DSSC is reduced due to the increase in I3- diffusion, resulting in higher open-circuit voltage. Moreover, both short-circuit current density and fill factor of the Cl2EImI based DSSC increase, as a result of the increasing transport of I3 in C^2EImI. Consequently, the photoelectric conversion efficiency of C^2EImI-based DSSC is higher than that of the Cl0EImI-based DSSC.

Mesomorphous structure change by tail chain number in ionic liquid crystalline complexes of linear polymer and amphiphiles

Three polymer-amphiphile complexes were prepared by combining poly（allylamine hydrochloride）（PAH） with the potassium salt of mono-,di-,and trisubstituted benzoic acid dendrons（4-octyloxybenzoic acid,3,5-dioctyloxybenzoic acid,and 3,4,5- trioctyloxybenzoic acid）.The solid structure and properties were monitored with FT-IR,XRD,TG,DSC,and polarized optical microscope（POM）.Difference in the tail chain number of the dendritic amphiphile induced two different mesomorphous structures： lamella for the mono-,disubstituted dendron containing complexes and hexagonal column for the trisubstituted dendron containing complexes.These corresponded to the ionic thermotropic liquid crystal SmA andΦ_h phases,respectively.This finding is significant for design of functional nanostructures based on the ionic complexation of polymers and amphiphiles.

Phase behaviors of ionic liquids attributed to the dual ionic and organic nature

Ionic liquids(ILs),also known as room-temperature molten salts,are solely composed of ions with melting points usually below 100℃.Because of their low volatility and vast amounts of species,ILs can serve as’green solvents’and’designer solvents’to meet the requirements of various applications by fine-tuning their molecular structures.A good understanding of the phase behaviors of ILs is certainly fundamentally important in terms of their wide applications.This review intends to summarize the major conclusions so far drawn on phase behaviors of ILs by computational,theoretical,and experimental studies,illustrating the intrinsic relationship between their dual ionic and organic nature and the crystalline phases,nanoscale segregation liquid phase,IL crystal phases,as well as phase behaviors of their mixture with small organic molecules.

Novel redox-active ionic thermotropic liquid crystalline complexes of polyelectrolyte and ferrocenyl surfactants

Redox-active polyelectrolyte-surfactant complexes（PSC） were prepared via the ionic self-assembly of sodium poly（styrenesulfonate） （PSS） and ferrocenyl surfactant,（11-ferrocenylundecyl）trimethylammonium bromide（FTMA） in aqueous solution. The PSS-FTMA complex exhibited an ordered interdigitated monolayer mesomorphous structure with the long period of d = 3.13 nm,and was in the ionic thermotropic liquid crystal SmA state at room temperature.Interestingly,in the solid complex, the ferrocenyl moieties formed H-aggregation showing an increase in theπ-π~＊ energy transfer of cyclopentadienes in the ferrocene moieties as known from the blue-shift in the UV spectrum.The complexes showed higher thermal stability compared with their components due to the ionic interaction.The PSS-FTMA film had a good redox reversibility,which promised to be used in electrochemical sensors.

Crystal structure and thermal decomposition kinetics of1-(pyridinium-1-yl)propane-(1-methylpiperidinium)bi[bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide], [PyC_3Pi][NTf_2]_2

The structure of a room temperature asymmetrical dicationic ionic liquid （ADIL）, 1-（pyridinium-l-yl） propane- （1-methylpiperidinium） bi[bis（tfifluoromethanesulfonyl）imide] （[PyC3Pi][NTf2]2）, was studied by the X-ray difo fraction method. Meanwhile, thermal analysis of [PyC3Pi][NTf2]2 was also studied using non-isothermal thermo- gravimetric analysis （TGA）. The title crystal belongs to the triclinic with space group Pi and unit-cell parameters a ： 0.95217 （8） nm, b = 1.05129 （11 ） nm, c = 1.70523 （14） nm, ct = 89,759 （8）°,β = 80.657 （7）°, γ=68.007 （9）°, and F（000） = 792. Thermal stability and thermal decomposition kinetics of the title compound were also investigated using TGA under the atmosphere of highly pure nitrogen. Heating curves at different rates were cor- related with kinetic equations Friedman and ASTM （also called iso-conversion method）. The values of average activation E （kJ·mol^-1 ） and pre-exponential constant lgA are 149.58 kJ. mol- 1 and 8.83, respectively, which were obtained by the two methods. The kinetic model function, activation energy and pre-exponential constant of this reaction using the multivariate non-linear-regression method were f（a） = （1 -a）（1 ＋ 4.1870a）, 151.04 kJ·mol^-1 and 8.81, respectively, which were basically consistent with iso-conversion methods.

Ionic Bent Shape Ternary Facial Amphiphiles

Novel bent shape tenary facial amphiphilic imidazolium ILC which consist of a ^-conjugated bent aromatic cores （2,5-dithiophenylethynyl phenyl bent core）, two terminal poliphilic alkyl chains and lateral n-alky chain terminated by an imidazolium bromide unit were synthesized by using Kumada and Sonogashira coupling reactions as key steps and both their thermotropic and lyotropic mesophase behaviors were studied by POM, DSC and XRD. Columnar phases were found in these compounds, a hexagonal cylinder model with core shell structure is supposed for the columnar phase formed by compound 1/8. Our study may provide a new strategy for designing new LC functional material.

Highly redispersible CNT dough for better processiblity

Carbon nanotubes(CNTs)have received considerable attention for their excellent thermal and electrical conductivity as well as scalable production.However,CNT dispersions are prone to settling and have a short shelf time,especially under high concentration,which significantly hinders their further processing and increases transportation costs.Here,we report a highly concentrated CNT dough enabled by ionic liquid crystal(ILC)as auxiliaries.Benefiting from the temperature-controlled physical transformation of the ILC,the CNTs of the powder state are successfully transferred to highly processable dough with excellent electrical conductivity,flame retardancy,and outstanding redispersibility even after 180 days of storage.In particular,the CNT dough exhibits excellent self-healing properties and good reshapable capability.Various bulk form CNT derived from the ILC armored CNT dough are realized by facile processing technique.Hybrid nanocomposite papers with ANF nanofiber exhibited excellent photothermal conversion and Joule heating properties.The redispersible CNT doughs presented here promise to revolutionize traditional CNT powder and dispersions as the primary raw material for building CNT-based architectures and facilitate the large-scale application of CNTs.