Functional ionic liquid electrolytes

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Electrolytes based on functional ionic liquids can potentially outperform traditional solvents by combining the exceptional stability of ionic liquids with a reactive group that can perform specific tasks. The research program proposed aims at developing new knowledge on the fundamental properties of such functional ionic liquids. Understanding how the structure of ionic liquids affects the electrode processes will be essential to orient the design of functional ionic liquids electrolytes that promote these processes. The development of advanced electrolytes based on functional ionic liquids will impact many electrochemical systems applied in energy storage and conversion devices, electrocatalytic synthesis, and sensors. The research proposed will expand in particular our efforts on electrolytes for energy storage devices which include electrochemical capacitors and batteries. Two types of functional ionic liquids are central to this work. Ionic liquids with proton exchange ability and electroactive ionic liquids, which are obtained by the addition of a redox moiety on an ionic component. The short to mid-term objectives consist in the investigation of i-the structure of the ionic liquid phases in the bulk and at various surfaces, ii-the heterogeneous proton transfer between protic ionic liquids and metal/metal oxide electrodes, and iii-the electron transfer reactions in neat (pure) redox ionic liquids. The long term objective of the program is the advancement of energy storage systems by perfecting the matching of electrode materials and electrolytes.