Ionic liquids (ILs) are salts that are liquid close to room temperature. Their possible applications are numerous, e.g., as solvents for green chemistry, in various electrochemical devices, and even for such "exotic" purposes as spinning-liquid mirrors for lunar telescopes. Here we concentrate on their use for new advancements in energy-storage and -conversion devices: Batteries, supercapacitor...

This paper reports on the development of a multi-layer microscale impedance measurement system with integrated working, counter, and reference electrodes that can be used to probe transport at the nanoscale. System fabrication and testing are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of such a system for characterizing transport through nanocapillary array membranes (NCAMs). Results indicate t...

Transport of colloids with transient wetting fronts represents an important mechanism of contaminant migration in the vadose zone. The work presented here used steady-state saturated and transient unsaturated flow columns to evaluate the transport of a fluorescent latex microsphere (980 nm in diameter) with capillary wetting fronts of different solution surface tensions and ionic strengths. The...

Mixed ionic-electronic conductors are widely used in devices for energy conversion and storage. Grain boundaries in these materials have nanoscale spatial dimensions, which can generate substantial resistance to ionic transport due to dopant segregation. Here, we report the concept of targeted phase formation in a Ce0.8Gd0.2O2-δ-CoFe2O4 composite that serves to enhance the grain boundary ionic ...

Nanopore size, shape, and surface charge all play important roles in regulating ionic transport through nanoporous membranes. The ability to control these parameters in situ provides a means to create ion transport systems tunable in real time. Here, we present a new strategy to address this challenge, utilizing three unique electrochemically switchable chemistries to manipulate the terminal fu...

Bipolar membranes (BPMs) are recently emerging as a promising material for application in advanced electrochemical energy systems such (photo)electrochemical CO2 reduction and water splitting. BPMs exhibit unique property to accelerate dissociation ionic separation that allows maintaining steady-state pH gradient devices without significant loss process efficiency, thereby allowing broader cata...