The production from biomass of chemicals and fuels by fermentation, biocatalysis, and related techniques implies energy-intensive separations of organics from relatively dilute aqueous solutions, and may require use of hazardous materials as entrainers to break azeotropes. We consider the design feasibility of using ionic liquids as solvents in liquid-liquid extractions for separating organic c...

Solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells currently suffer from issues such as inadequate nanopore filling, low conductivity and crystallization of hole-transport materials infiltrated in the mesoscopic TiO2 scaffolds, leading to low performances. Here we report a record 11% stable solid-state dye-sensitized solar cell under standard air mass 1.5 global using a hole-transport material composed of ...

Ion evaporation is an essential step in the formation of charged ions from electrosprays, yet many aspects of the process are poorly understood. The ion evaporation kinetics of the 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium+ (EMI+) based ionic liquids (ILs) EMI-BF4, EMI-bis(perfluoroethylsulfonyl)imide, EMI-bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and EMI-tris(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)methide (EMI-Methide) are studi...

The electrochemical behavior of a redox-active, ferrocene-modified ionic liquid (1-ferrocenylmethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) in acetonitrile and in an ionic liquid electrolyte (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide) is reported. Reversible electrochemical behavior was observed in each electrolyte with responses typical of those for unmodifie...

Cytochrome c immobilized on alkylthiol self-assembled monolayers exhibits a characteristic Fe(II)/Fe(III) redox signal that is lost when exposed to ionic liquids composed of a butylimidazolium cation combined with either hexafluorophosphate or bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion. In this study it was shown that exposure to the aqueous solubilized ionic liquid components, butyl-, hexyl-, and...

Aiming at a comprehensive understanding of the interaction of ionic liquids (ILs) with metal surfaces we have investigated the adsorption of two closely related ILs, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [EMIM][TFSA] and 1-methyl-3-octylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [OMIM][TFSA], with two noble metal surfaces, Au(111) and Ag(111), under ultrahigh vacuum (...

The relative volatilities of a variety of common ionic liquids have been determined for the first time. Equimolar mixtures of ionic liquids were vacuum-distilled in a glass sublimation apparatus at approximately 473 K. The composition of the initial distillate, determined by NMR spectroscopy, was used to establish the relative volatility of each ionic liquid in the mixture. The effect of alkyl ...

The addition of lithium salts to ionic liquids causes an increase in viscosity and a decrease in ionic mobility that hinders their possible application as an alternative solvent in lithium ion batteries. Optically heterodyne-detected optical Kerr effect spectroscopy was used to study the change in dynamics, principally orientational relaxation, caused by the addition of lithium bis(trifluoromet...