Understanding Sorption of Aqueous Electrolytes in Porous Carbon by NMR Spectroscopy

Ion adsorption at solid-water interfaces is crucial for many electrochemical processes involving aqueous electrolytes including energy storage, electrochemical separations, and electrocatalysis. However, the impact of the hydronium (H₃O⁺) and hydroxide (OH^-) ions on the ion adsorption and surface charge distributions remains poorly understood. Many fundamental studies of supercapacitors focus on non-aqueous electrolytes to avoid addressing the role of functional groups and electrolyte pH in altering ion uptake. Achieving microscopic level characterization of interfacial mixed ion adsorption is particularly challenging due to the complex ion dynamics, disordered structures, and hierarchical porosity of the carbon electrodes. This work addresses these challenges starting with pH measurements to quantify the adsorbed H₃O⁺ concentrations, which reveal the basic nature of the activated carbon YP-50F commonly used in supercapacitors. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is used to study the uptake of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)-imide (LiTFSI) aqueous electrolyte in the YP-50F carbon across the full pH range. The NMR data analysis highlights the importance of including the fast ion-exchange processes for accurate quantification of the adsorbed ions. Under acidic conditions, more TFSI^- ions are adsorbed in the carbon pores than Li⁺ ions, with charge compensation also occurring via H₃O⁺ adsorption. Under neutral and basic conditions, when the carbon's surface charge is close to zero, the Li⁺ and TFSI^- ions exhibit similar but lower affinities toward the carbon pores. Our experimental approach and evidence of H₃O⁺ uptake in pores provide a methodology to relate the local structure to the function and performance in a wide range of materials for energy applications and beyond.