Thermoreversible ionogels with tunable properties via aqueous gelation of an amphiphilic quaternary ammonium oligoether-based ionic liquid

Abstract

The gelation of the amphiphilic quaternary ammonium oligoether-based ionic liquid (AMMOENG100) with water is addressed. This approach allows the preparation of thermoreversible ionogels with high ionic conductivity (up to 60 mS cm(-1)), remarkable mechanical properties (storage moduli above 10(5) Pa a value comparable to the mechanical properties of some rubbers), and melting points in the range from -20 to 53 degrees C. These properties can be easily tuned in a broad range by varying the water (and/or inorganic salts) concentration in the ionogels. The described method is a very convenient way to prepare ionogels because it is based on simple and inexpensive materials, namely AMMOENG100 and water (no volatile organic solvents involved). Infrared measurements suggested that the observed gelation phenomenon might occur via the formation of a hydrogen bonded network between water and the AMMOENG100 ionic liquid

Highly Conductive Ionic-Liquid Gels Prepared with Orthogonal Double Networks of a Low-Molecular-Weight Gelator and Cross-Linked Polymer

“…28,29 Schubert et al found the thermoreversible gelation of an amphiphilic quaternary ammonium-type ionic liquid/water mixture, which exhibited high conductivity probably due to the controllable water content and the additional inorganic salts. [30][31][32] We also reported the gelation of ionic liquids using novel low-molecular-weight gelators and revealed that the gelation did not affect the ionic conductivities of ionic liquids. 23,24 Yanagida et al demonstrated the feasibility of ionogels to the solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells using a lowmolecular-weight gelator.…”

Physical gels of [BMIM][BF4] by N‐ tert‐butylacrylamide/ethylene oxide based triblock copolymer self‐assembly: Synthesis, thermomechanical, and conducting properties

“…This shortcoming is overcome by gelling ILs 22,23 using different approaches such as: (1) solidification of ILs by polymers [24][25][26][27][28][29][30] ; (2) addition of inorganic nanoparticles, 31,32 carbon nanotubes, [33][34][35] and low-molar mass compounds, 36,37 and (3) Aqueous gelation of ILs. 38,39 Specifically, ion-gels consisting of a swollen polymeric network in an IL constitute a promising class of solid state electrolytes owing to their combined advantages of good mechanical properties and high ionic conductivity which have potential applications in Li-ion batteries, electrochemical devices, sensors, electromechanical actuators, gas separation membranes, and dye-sensitized solar cells. 31,32,[40][41][42][43][44][45][46] Most of the studies on iongels derived from polymers are based on doping of ILs with polymers and in situ polymerization (or crosslinking) of vinyl monomers in ILs.…”

One‐Step Synthesis of Thermosensitive Nanogels Based on Highly Cross‐Linked Poly(ionic liquid)s

“…[7] The design and synthesis of low molar mass gelators are also effective methods. [8] However, these methods and techniques for the preparation of IL-based gels present several limitations, ranging from expensive materials to complex synthetic procedures, [9] which make them less attractive Recently, we have demonstrated a facile one-step synthetic strategy for the preparation of IL-based cross-linked polymeric nanogels (CLPNs) by the conventional radical copolymerization of a phosphonium-based IL (PIL) and the cross-linkers ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) and divinylbenzene (DVB) in selective solvents. [10] Nevertheless, when the imidazolium-based IL (ImIL), 1-vinyl-3-(ethoxycarbonyl)methyl imidazolium chloride was copolymerized with a cross-linker under the same conditions, the copolymers precipitated from the solvent, resulting in particles in the submicrometer range.…”