Blending ionic liquids: how physico-chemical properties change

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2010 Feb 28;12(8):1784-92. doi: 10.1039/b921816e. Epub 2010 Jan 18.

Abstract

Ionic liquids offer the opportunity of tailoring their properties by changing the chemical structure of the cation and anion. Blending of two or more liquids adds a further dimension to this "chemical space". Here we present the results of a study of three binary and one ternary mixture of the ionic liquids formed by the N-butyl-N-methylpyrrolidinium cation with bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide, bis(pentafluoroethanesulfonyl) imide and (trifluoromethanesulfonyl)(nonafluorobutanesulfonyl) imide. We have collected viscosity and NMR-based data on ionxion correlations (NOE) and diffusion (DOSY). We also attempt to establish a quantitative correlation between mixture and the corresponding pure liquid properties. We find that the binary mixture containing the two very different anions has an intriguing and somewhat anomalous behaviour.