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Updated: Dec 31, 2025
From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Probing the electronic structure of ether functionalised ionic liquids using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Ejike J Dick1, Adam E A Fouda2, Nicholas A Besley2
1School of Chemistry, The University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK. peter.licence@nottingham.ac.uk and The GSK Carbon Neutral Laboratory, The University of Nottingham Innovation Park, Triumph Road, Nottingham NG7 2TU, UK.
Abstract:
The charge distribution associated with individual components in functionalised ionic liquids (ILs) can be tuned by careful manipulation of the substituent groups incorporated into the ions. Here we use X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to investigate the impact of substituent atoms on the electronic structure of similar imidazolium-based systems each paired with a common anion, [Tf2N]-. The experimental measurements revealed an unexpected variation in the charge density distribution within the IL cation when the oxygen atom in a poly-ether containing side chain is moved by just one atomic position. This surprising observation is supported by density functional theory calculations.
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