Heat capacities and glass transitions of ion gels

J Phys Chem B. 2012 Sep 6;116(35):10935-40. doi: 10.1021/jp3030655. Epub 2012 Aug 27.

Abstract

We have investigated thermodynamic properties of ion gels consisting of a PMMA [poly(methyl methacrylate)] network and EMITFSI [1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide] ionic liquid by means of an adiabatic calorimeter. The heat capacity data were measured in the temperature range between 5 and 375 K for 7 samples with x = 0 (pure PMMA), 0.10, 0.18, 0.27, 0.48, 0.65, and 1.0 (pure ionic liquid) where x is a mole fraction of EMITFSI. These data revealed that two broad but distinct glass transitions appeared in the low x region. The upper glass transition is mainly due to the freezing of the PMMA motion, while the lower one is due to the ionic liquid. The upper glass transition temperature T(g) drastically decreased with increasing x, reflecting a large plasticization effect observed in mechanical experiments. The x dependence of the T(g)s and the excess heat capacities gave new physical insight to the interaction between polymer and ionic liquid in ion gels.