NEW IMIDAZOLIUM SALTS HAVING LIQUID CRYSTAL CHARACTERISTICS, USEFUL AS ELECTROLYTES
申请人:Resnati Giuseppe
公开号:US20120135316A1
公开(公告)日:2012-05-31
Novel imidazolium salts of formula (I) are described in which R is a C
1
-C
14
alkyl group, optionally substituted by one or more fluorine atoms, or a C
2
-C
18
alkoxyalkyl group, R′ is an alkyl group containing at least 8 carbon atoms, at least 6 of which are partially or entirely fluorinated, R″ is hydrogen or C
1
-C
3
alkyl, Z is an organic or inorganic anion, and Q is further defined. The compounds of formula (I) are liquid crystals over a wide temperature range, and are characterised by high conductivity, hydrophobicity and stability. These properties made them ideally suitable for use in devices based on electrochemical reactions, such as solar cells, fuel cells, electrochemical sensors, lithium batteries and capacitors, etc.
Imidazolium salts having liquid crystal characteristics, useful as electrolytes
申请人:Politecnico di Milano
公开号:EP2261217A1
公开(公告)日:2010-12-15
Novel imidazolium salts of formula (I) are described in which R is a C1-C14 alkyl group, optionally substituted by one or more fluorine atoms, or a C2-C18 alkoxyalkyl group, R' is an alkyl group containing at least 8 carbon atoms, at least 6 of which are partially or entirely fluorinated, R" is hydrogen or C1-C3 alkyl, Z is an organic or inorganic anion, and Q is further defined. The compounds of formula (I) are liquid crystals over a wide temperature range, and are characterised by high conductivity, hydrophobicity and stability. These properties made them ideally suitable for use in devices based on electrochemical reactions, such as solar cells, fuel cells, electrochemical sensors, lithium batteries and capacitors, etc.
In this work, we report a library of thirteen fluorinated ionic liquids consisting of iodide salts of 1-alkyl-3-polyfluoroalkyl-imidazolium cations. By changing the length of the alkyl and polyfluoroalkyl pendants, we discovered that particular combinations of these result in compounds showing a mesophase. The nature and the molecular arrangement of the mesophase are characterised by polarised optical microscopy and powder X-ray diffraction analysis, among others. We demonstrate that, after the addition of I2 to generate the I−/I3− redox couple, anisotropic ionic conductivity takes place along preferential pathways in the lamellar structure of the mesophase. Notably, the addition of I2 does not suppress the mesophase temperature range, contrary to previously reported systems. Furthermore, the tendency of these materials to supercool allows the molecular arrangement in the mesophase to be retained in a solid film at ambient temperatures. Finally, we demonstrate their applicability as a quasi-solid electrolyte by preparing dye-sensitised solar cells with power conversion efficiencies comparable to the previous reports.