Revealing the role and working mechanism of confined ionic liquids in solid polymer composite electrolytes

The confined ionic liquid(IL) in solid polymer composite electrolytes(SCPEs) can improve the performance of lithium metal batteries. However, the impact/role and working mechanism of confined IL in SCPEs remain ambiguous. Herein, IL was immobilized on SiO_(2)(SiO_(2)@IL-C) and then used to prepare the confined SCPEs together with LiTFSI and PEO to study the impacts of confined-IL on the properties and performance of electrolytes and reveal the Li+transport mechanism. The results show that, compared to the IL-unconfined SCPE, the IL-confined ones exhibit better performance of electrolytes and cells, such as higher ionic conductivity, higher t+Li, and wider electrochemical windows, as well as more stable cycle performance, due to the increased dissociation degree of lithium salt and enlarged polymer amorphousness. The finite-element/molecular-dynamics simulations suggest that the IL confined on the SiO_(2) provided an additional Li+transport pathway(Li+→ SiO_(2)@IL-C) that can accelerate ion transfer and alleviate lithium dendrites, leading to ultrastable stripping/plating cycling over 1900 h for the Li/SCPEs/Li symmetric cells. This study demonstrates that IL-confinement is an effective strategy for the intelligent approach of high-performance lithium metal batteries.

Direct observation of ordered-disordered structural transition of MoS_(2)-confined ionic liquids

Ionic liquids(ILs)are an emerging class of media of fundamental importance for chemical engineering,especially due to their interaction with solid surfaces.Here,we explore the growth phenomenon of surface-confined ILs and reveal a peculiar structural transition behavior from order to disorder above a threshold thickness.This behavior can be explained by the variation of interfacial forces with increasing distance from the solid surface.Direct structural observation of different ILs highlights the influence of the ionic structure on the growth process.Notably,the length of the alkyl chain in the cation is found to be a determining factor for the ordering trend.Also,the thermal stability of surface-confined ILs is investigated in depth by controlling annealing treatments.It is found that the ordered monolayer ILs exhibit high robustness against high temperatures.Our findings provide new perspectives on the properties of surface-confined ILs and open up potential avenues for manipulating the structures of nanometer-thick IL films for various applications.

Low-temperature Electrodeposition of Aluminium from Lewis Acidic 1-Allyl-3-methylimidazolium Chloroaluminate Ionic Liquids

Lewis acidic 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloroaluminate ionic liquids were used as promising elec-trolytes in the low-temperature electrodeposition of aluminium.Systematic studies on deposition process have been performed by cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry.The surface morphology and X-ray diffraction(XRD) patterns of deposits prepared at different experimental conditions were also investigated.It was shown that the nu-cleation density and growth rate of crystallites had a great effect on the structure of aluminium deposited.The crys-tallographic orientation of deposits was mainly influenced by temperature and current density.Smooth,dense and well adherent aluminium coatings were obtained on copper substrates at 10-25 mA?cm?2 and 313.2-353.2 K.More-over,the current efficiency of deposition and purity of aluminium have been significantly improved,demonstrating that the ionic liquids tested have a prospectful potential in electroplating and electrorefining of aluminium.

Synthesis of isosorbide-based polycarbonates via melt polycondensation catalyzed by quaternary ammonium ionic liquids

A series of quaternary ammonium ionic liquids(ILs)were synthesized and employed as catalysts for the production of poly(isosorbide carbonate)(PIC)from diphenyl carbonate and isosorbide via a melt polycondensation process.The relationship between the anions of the ILs and the catalytic activities was investigated,and the readily‐prepared IL tetraethylammonium imidazolate(TEAI)was found to exhibit the highest catalytic activity.After optimizing the reaction conditions,a PIC with a weight‐average molecular weight(Mw)of25600g/mol was obtained,in conjunction with an isosorbide conversion of92%.As a means of modifying the molecular flexibility and thermal properties of the PIC,poly(aliphatic diol‐co‐isosorbide carbonate)s(PAIC)s were successfully synthesized,again using TEAI,and polymers with Mw values ranging from29000to112000g/mol were obtained.13C NMR analyses determined that the PAIC specimens had random microstructures,while differential scanning calorimetry demonstrated that each of the PAICs were amorphous and had glass transition temperatures ranging from50to115°C.Thermogravimetric analyses found Td‐5%values ranging from316to332°C for these polymers.Based on these data,it is evident that the incorporation of linear or cyclohexane‐based diol repeating units changed the thermal properties of the PIC.

The Research Progress of CO2 Capture with Ionic Liquids

Due to their negligible volatility,reasonable thermal stability,strong dissolubility,wide liquid range and tunability of structure and property,ionic liquids have been regarded as emerging candidate reagents for CO2 cap-ture from industries gases.In this review,the research progresses in CO2 capture using conventional ionic liquids,functionalized ionic liquids,supported ionic-liquids membranes,polymerized ionic liquids and mixtures of ionic liquids with some molecular solvents were investigated and reviewed.Discussion of relevant research fields was presented and the future developments were suggested.

Effects of imidazolium-based ionic liquids on the isobaric vapor–liquid equilibria of methanol+dimethyl carbonate azeotropic systems

The separation of methanol(MeOH)and dimethyl carbonate(DMC)is important but difficult due to the formation of an azeotropic mixture.In this work,isobaric vapor–liquid equilibrium(VLE)data for the ternary systems containing different imidazolium–based ionic liquids(ILs),i.e.MeOH+DMC+1-butyl-3-methy-limidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide([Bmim][Tf2N]),MeOH+DMC+1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis[(trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]imide([Emim][Tf2N]),and MeOH+DMC+1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate([Emim][PF6])were measured at 101.3 kPa.The mole fraction of IL was varied from0.05 to 0.20.The experimental data were correlated with the NRTL and Wilson equations,respectively.The results show that imidazolium-based ILs were beneficial to improve the relative volatility of MeOH to DMC,and[Bmim][Tf2 N]showed a much more excellent performance on the activity coefficient of MeOH.The interaction energies of system components were calculated using Gaussian program,and the effects of cation and anion on the separation coefficient of the azeotropic system were discussed.

Synthesis of propylene glycol ethers from propylene oxide catalyzed by environmentally friendly ionic liquids

A series of acetate ionic liquids were synthesized using a typical two‐step method.The ionic liquids were used as environmentally benign catalysts in the production of propylene glycol ethers from propylene oxide and alcohols under mild conditions.The basic strengths of the ionic liquids were evaluated by determination of their Hammett functions,obtained using ultraviolet‐visible spectroscopy,and the relationship between their catalytic activities and basicities was established.The catalytic efficiencies of the ionic liquids were higher than that of the traditional basic catalyst NaOH.This can be attributed to the involvement of a novel reaction mechanism when these ionic liquids are used.A possible electrophilic‐nucleophilic dual activation mechanism was proposed and confirmed using electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry.In addition,the effects of significant reaction parameters such as concentration of catalyst,molar ratio of alcohol to propylene oxide,reaction temperature,and steric hindrance of the alcohol were investigated in detail.

Modification to solution-diffusion model for performance prediction of nanofiltration of long-alkyl-chain ionic liquids aqueous solutions based on ion cluster

Mathematical modeling for nanofiltration of ionic liquids(ILs) solutions could assist to understand transfer mechanism and predict experimental values. In this work, modeling by solution-diffusion model for nanofiltration of long-alkyl-chain ILs aqueous solutions was proposed. Molecular simulations were performed to validate the existence of ion cluster in long-alkyl-chain ILs aqueous solution. Based on the results of simulations, parameters used in the solution-diffusion model were modified, such as concentration of ILs and diameter of ion cluster.The modeling process was developed for three long-alkyl-chain ILs aqueous solutions with different concentrations(1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride: [C6 mim]Cl, [C8 mim]Cl, [C10 mim]Cl). The calculated values obtained from modified solution-diffusion model could well match the experimental values.

The effect of protic ionic liquids incorporation on CO_(2) separation performance of Pebax-based membranes

The separation of carbon dioxide(CO_(2))is of great importance for environment protection and gas resource purification.The ionic liquids(ILs)-based gas separation membrane provides a new chance for efficient CO_(2)separation,while high permeability and selectivity of membranes is a great challenge.In this study,the influence of two protic ILs with different anion([TMGH][Im]and[TMGH][PhO])on the CO_(2)separation performance of the prepared ILs/Pebax blended membranes were systematically investigated at different temperature.The results showed the CO_(2)permeability exhibits the rising trend for ILs/Pebax blended membranes with the increment of IL content.Especially,the[TMGH][Im]with low viscosity and high CO_(2)absorption capacity leads to the blended membranes showing better CO_(2)permeability and ideal CO_(2)selectivity than that of membranes with[TMGH][PhO]at high IL content.Besides,with operating temperature increasing,the gas permeability of 20%(mass)[TMGH][Im]/Pebax blended membrane increases due to the decreasing viscosity of IL and the rising chain mobility of polymer.Inversely,the gas selectivity shows decreasing trend because CO_(2)absorption capacity obviously decreased at higher temperature.

CO_2 absorption with ionic liquids at elevated temperatures

COcapture with ionic liquids（ILs） has attracted many attentions, and most works focused on absorption ability at ambient temperatures, while seldom research was concerned at elevated temperatures.This not only limits the COabsorption application at elevated temperature, but also the determination of the operation condition of the COdesorption generally occurring at higher temperature. This work mainly reported COsolubilities in ILs at elevated temperatures and related properties were also provided. 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis（trifluoromethylsulfonyl）imide（[CnMIm][TfN]） ILs were selected as physical absorbents for COcapture in this work due to their relative higher COabsorption capacities and good thermal stabilities. The long-term stability tests showed that [CnMIm][TfN] is thermally stable at 393.15 K for long time. COsolubilities in [CnMIm][TfN] were systematically determined at temperatures from 353.15 K to 393.15 K. It demonstrated that COsolubility obviously increases with the increase of pressure while slightly decreases with increase of temperature. As the length of alkyl chain on the cation increases, COsolubility in ILs increases. Additionally, the thermodynamic properties including the Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy of COwere also calculated.

Ionic liquids/deep eutectic solvents for CO_(2) capture:Reviewing and evaluating

The CO_(2)solubilities(including CO_(2)Henry’s constant)in physical-and chemical-based ILs/DESs and the COSMO-RS models describing these properties were comprehensively collected and summarized.The summarized results indicate that chemical-based ILs/DESs are superior to physical-based ILs/DESs for CO_(2)capture,especially those ILs have functionalized cation and anion,and superbase DESs;some of the superbase DESs have higher CO_(2)solubilities than those of ILs;the best physical-and chemical-based ILs,as well as physical-and chemicalbased DESs are[BMIM][BF4](4.20 mol kg^(-1)),[DETAH][Im](11.91 mol kg^(-1)),[L-Arg]-Gly 1:6(4.92 mol kg^(-1))and TBD-EG 1:4(12.90 mol kg^(-1)),respectively.Besides the original COSMO-RS mainly providing qualitative predictions,six corrected COSMO-RS models have been proposed to improve the prediction performance based on the experimental data,but only one model is with universal parameters.The newly determined experimental results were further used to verify the perditions of original and corrected COSMO-RS models.The comparison indicates that the original COSMO-RS qualitatively predicts CO_(2)solubility for some but not all ILs/DESs,while the quantitative prediction is incapable at all.The original COSMO-RS is capable to predict CO_(2)Henry’s constant qualitatively for both physical-based ILs and DESs,and quantitative prediction is only available for DESs.For the corrected COSMO-RS models,only the model with universal parameters provides quantitative predictions for CO_(2)solubility in physical-based DESs,while other corrected models always show large deviations(>83%)compared with the experimental CO_(2)Henry’s constants.

In-situ generated ionic liquid catalyzed aldol condensation of trioxane with ester in mild homogeneous system

α, β-unsaturated esters were often synthesized from aldehydes and esters in the presence of strong organic base that was very sensitive to air and moisture via aldol reaction. Trioxane was very useful C1 resource, however, the decomposition of it was always the challenging problem that facing researchers. Herein, a novel synthetic methodology for α, β-unsaturated ester preparation from trioxane and ester with mild catalysis of generated ammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate ionic liquid. The enolization of ester as well as the decomposition of trioxane could proceed easily in the presence of boryl trifluoromethanesulfonate and amine at 20–25℃. Then the enolate and decomposed formaldehyde occurs aldol reaction to form α, β-unsaturated ester. With this strategy, the yield and selectivity of product from various substrates including aliphatic esters,lactones and thioester could reach up to 85.2% and 90.1%.

Glycerol carbonate synthesis from glycerol and dimethyl carbonate using guanidine ionic liquids

A large number of surplus glycerol from the biodiesel production can be used as renewable feedstock to produce glycerol carbonate. In this paper, a series of guanidine-based ionic liquids were synthesized to catalyze the transesterification of glycerol and dimethyl carbonate. The tunable basicity and the anion–cation cooperative effect were responsible for the obtained results. The [TMG][TFE] showed the best activity turnover frequency(TOF)of 1754.0 h^(-1), glycerol(GL) conversion of 91.8%, glycerol carbonate(GC) selectivity of 95.5%) at 80 °C with 0.1 mol% catalyst for 30 min. The reaction mechanism of the transesterification was also proposed.

Ionic liquids for CO_(2) electrochemical reduction

Electrochemical reduction of CO_(2) is a novel research field towards a CO_(2)-neutral global economy and combating fast accelerating and disastrous climate changes while finding new solutions to store renewable energy in value-added chemicals and fuels.Ionic liquids(ILs),as medium and catalysts(or supporting part of catalysts)have been given wide attention in the electrochemical CO_(2) reduction reaction(CO_(2) RR)due to their unique advantages in lowering overpotential and improving the product selectivity,as well as their designable and tunable properties.In this review,we have summarized the recent progress of CO_(2) electro-reduction in IL-based electrolytes to produce higher-value chemicals.We then have highlighted the unique enhancing effect of ILs on CO_(2) RR as templates,precursors,and surface functional moieties of electrocatalytic materials.Finally,computational chemistry tools utilized to understand how the ILs facilitate the CO_(2) RR or to propose the reaction mechanisms,generated intermediates and products have been discussed.

A novel strategy of lithium recycling from spent lithium-ion batteries using imidazolium ionic liquid

In light of the increasing demand for environmental protection and energy conservation,the recovery of highly valuable metals,such as Li,Co,and Ni,from spent lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)has attracted widespread attention.Most conventional recycling strategies,however,suffer from a lack of lithium recycling,although they display high efficiency in the recovery of Co and Ni.In this work,we report an efficient extraction process of lithium from the spent LIBs by using a functional imidazolium ionic liquid.The extraction efficiency can be reached to 92.5%after a three-stage extraction,while the extraction efficiency of Ni-Co-Mn is less than 4.0%.The new process shows a high selectivity of lithium ion.FTIR spectroscopy and ultraviolet are utilized to characterize the variations in the functional groups during extraction to reveal that the possible extraction mechanism is cation exchange.The results of this work provide an effective and sustainable strategy of lithium recycling from spent LIBs.

Process design and economic analysis of methacrylic acid extraction for three organic solvents

In this work,a techno-economic study for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid from an aqueous solution is presented.The involved phase equilibrium calculations in process design are verified by measured experimental data.First,experiments are conducted with different solvent candidates to measure LLE(liquid–liquid equilibrium)data and to establish the effects of extraction temperature and dosage of solvent.Next,the binary interaction parameters for the UNIQUAC model to be used for equilibrium calculations are fine-tuned with measured data.Then,a process for the solvent based extraction of methacrylic acid recovery is designed and verified through simulation with the regressed UNIQUAC model parameters.The optimal configuration of the process flowsheet is determined by minimizing the total annualized cost.Among the three solvent candidates considered-cyclohexane,hexane and toluene-the highest efficiency and the lowest total annualized cost is found with toluene as the solvent.

Mechanism of CO_(2)reduction in carbonylation reaction promoted by ionic liquid additives:A computational and experimental study

The Ru-catalyzed carbonylation of alkenes with CO_(2)as a C1 surrogate and imidazole chlorides as the promotor is investigated by a combination of computational and experimental study.The conversion rate of CO_(2)to CO is positively correlated with the efficiency of both hydroesterification and hydroformylation,which is found facilitated in the presence of chloride additives with a decreasing order of BmimCl~B3MimCl>BmmimCl~LiCl.Taking the hydroesterification with MeOH as a representative example,BmimCl bearing C-H functionality at the C^(2)site of the cation assists the reduction of CO_(2)to CO as a hydrogen donor medium,with the anion and cation acting in a synergistic fashion.Subsequent insertion of CO_(2)into the formed Ru-H bond with the assistance of chloride anion produces the Ru-COOH species,which ultimately accelerates the activation of CO_(2).

Ionic liquid catalyzed solvent-free synthesis of chalcone and its derivatives under mild conditions

An ionic liquid(IL)catalyzed solvent-free process was developed for the direct synthesis of chalcone and its derivatives by using substituted acetophenones and benzaldehydes via aldol reaction under mild conditions.A series of acidic and basic ILs were selected and screened.The influences of cations and reaction conditions on product yield and selectivity were systematically investigated.The[Bmim]OH was identified as the optimal IL,with the highest yield and selectivity reaching up to 96.7% and 100%,respectively.A reaction mechanism-based kinetic model was established and regressed with experimental data,revealing the β-Hydroxylketone dehydrolysis with activation barrier of 37.8 kJ·mol^(-1) was observed as the ratecontrolling step.

Simulation and design of a heat-integrated double-effect reactive distillation process for propylene glycol methyl ether production

A double-effect reactive distillation(DERD)process was proposed for the production of propylene glycol methyl ether from propylene oxide and methanol to overcome the shortcoming of low selectivity and high-energy consumption in the tubular plug-flow reactor.A single-column reactive distillation(RD)process was conducted under optimized operating conditions based on sensitivity analysis as a reference.The results demonstrated that the proposed DERD process is able to achieve more than 95%selectivity of the desired product.After that,a design approach of the DERD process with an objective of the minimum operating cost was proposed to achieve further energy savings in the RD process.The proposed DERD configuration can provide a large energy-savings by totally utilization of the overhead vapor steam in the high-pressure RD column.A comparison of the single-column RD process revealed that the proposed DERD process can reduce the operating cost and the total annual cost of 25.3%and 30.7%,respectively,even though the total capital cost of DERD process is larger than that of the RD process.

Separation of chitin from shrimp shells enabled by transition metal salt aqueous solution and ionic liquid

Chitin is a widely used important industrial polymer mainly from shrimp shells, but its commercial preparation is under the great challenge of serious pollution due to the requirement of HCl and Na OH.Herein, we demonstrated that high purity chitin can be obtained from waste shrimp shells(WSSs) by cascade separation with transition metal salt aqueous solution and ionic liquid(IL). Firstly, calcium carbonate of WSSs was effectively removed in the metal salt aqueous solution driven by the ion exchange interaction. Subsequently, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride([Bmim]Cl) had bifunctional abilities to remove residual protein and introduced metal salts simultaneously by hydrogen bonding and coordination interactions. The key experimental factors affecting the separation process were systematically studied, including the type of metal salts, temperature, and [Bmim]Cl loading. After sequential treatment with a 20%(mass) Ni SO4aqueous solution at 130 ℃ and [Bmim]Cl at 150 ℃, the purity of a-chitin can be up to 96.5%(mass) that meets commercial requirements. The use of metal salts with higher coordination ability makes the preparation of chitin no longer depend on the commonly acid-base reaction, which is conducive to the preservation of chitin structure.