Dispersion mechanism of polyacrylic acid-coated nanoparticle in protic ionic liquid, N,N-diethylethanolammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate

Ionic liquids (ILs) are extremely concentrated electrolyte solutions. The ubiquitous presence of ions induces specific behaviors for chemical reactions compared to reactions in water solutions. This is also the case for the stability of colloidal dispersions, for which the DLVO model cannot be applied as the ionic strength is out of the model range. In a previous work, in the protic IL ethylammonium nitrate (doi: https://doi.org//10.1016/j.jcis.2015.04.059), we observed an unexpected influence of the pH on the stability of dispersion of maghemite nanoparticles coated with poly(acrylic acid) (pAA).

To clarify and generalize these observations, we investigated here the pH response of the dispersion in a second protic ionic liquid with a different acid-base nature, diethylethanolammonium trifluoromethanesulfonate. pH titrations of the dispersions were achieved with an IS-FET electrode and the associated thermodynamic constants determined. The colloid structural properties were examined by small angle X-ray scattering.

Under acidic or mildly basic condition, a stable dispersion was obtained, i.e., when the degree of dissociation of pAA, α, was α < 0.1 or α > 0.7. Dispersions form quite dense but reversible aggregates in the intermediate α range. A model for the solvation layer around the particles is proposed and generalizes the former findings.