Deutsch
Structure of ionic liquids at interfaces
| Room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts with a melting point near or below room temperature. They are promising candidates for a broad range of “green” applications, e.g. in fuel and solar cells, for which their interactions with solids play a crucial role. Therefore, a detailed knowledge of the spatial arrangement of the ions near liquid/solid interfaces is most desirable. Using high-energy x-ray reflectivity we get access to deeply buried solid-liquid interfaces and gain structural information with molecular resolution. | |||||
|
|||||
| Normalized high-energy x-ray reflectivities of the three different ILs in contact with an Al2O3 (0001) surface. The lines are best fits using a modified distorted crystal model. [FAP]–[bmpy]+: blue line, [FAP]–[hmim]+: red line, [FAP]–[tba]+: green line. | |||||
|
Interfacial electron density profiles can be extracted from the reflection patterns. Detailed analysis revealed a structure comprised of alternating anion and cation enriched regions, with this modulation decaying towards the bulk liquid. |
|||||
Contact:
Markus Mezger
|
| ||||
