Deposition of metal films on an ionic liquid as a basis for a lunar telescope

Abstract

An optical/infrared telescope of 20-100 m aperture located on the Moon would be able to observe objects 100 to 1,000 times fainter than the proposed next generation of space telescopes. The infrared region of the spectrum is particularly important for observations of objects at redshifts z > 7. The apparent simplicity and low mass of a liquid mirror telescope, compared with a traditional pointable glass mirror, suggest that the concept should be considered further. A previously proposed liquid mirror telescope, based upon a spinning liquid metallic alloy, is not appropriate for infrared applications, which will require a liquid below 130 K. Here we report the successful coating of an ionic liquid with silver. The surface is smooth and the silver coating is stable on a timescale of months. The underlying ionic liquid does not evaporate in a vacuum and remains liquid down to a temperature of 175 K. Given that there are approximately 10(6) simple and approximately 10(18) ternary ionic liquids, it should be possible to synthesize liquids with even lower melting temperatures.

Heterogeneous Electron Transfer Kinetics at the Ionic Liquid/Metal Interface Studied Using Cyclic Voltammetry and Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy

“…As shown in Table 1, the ratio of the diffusion coefficients of the reduced and oxidized forms of [FcC 1 MIm] is greater than 1 at all temperatures studied. This behavior has been observed previously by others for various species dissolved in ionic liquid electrolytes and may be due to hindered diffusion of the oxidized species due to stronger solvation by the ionic liquid electrolyte.…”

Ionic Liquids Then and Now: From Solvents to Materials to Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients

“…Recently, many scientists and engineers (many well outside chemistry-related fields 15 ) have realized that ILs are actually customizable materials for a variety of specialized applications, and through their research broadened the number of cations and anions that are used to form ILs (Fig. 2).…”

RAIRS Investigations on Films of the Ionic Liquid [EMIM]Tf2N

“…new electrolytes for electrodeposition, 11 and electrochemical devices, such as Li ion batteries 12 and fuel cells. 13 The potential application of ionic liquid films for submicron-resolution lithographic imaging 14 and for the construction of a Lunar Liquid Mirror 15 should also be mentioned here.…”