Investigating Structure and Dynamic Phenomena in Ionic Liquids using MuSR

Ionic Liquids (ILs) are a remarkable class of liquids that are receiving huge attention for their potential in a range of applications as diverse as solvents for synthesis, or as functional materials in electrochemical devices. This potential arises because of the structures and solvent environments that they present, which have some similarities to other complex liquid systems such as molten salts, liquid crystals and glasses, but in combination are unique to ILs. Although there is an extended worldwide study on ILs, the understanding of their structural nanoscopic behaviour is still limited. The ‘designer solvent’ concept of ILs requires in-depth understanding of how molecular properties lead to macroscopic behaviours. For dynamic properties of solutes, this remains elusive. Preliminary studies on the structure and dynamic phenomena of ILs using EPR spectroscopy have shown that the nature and chemistry of the solute significantly affects the chemical environment it experience. A major bottleneck in finding an appropriate probe for studying the nanoscopic behaviour of ILs is the size of the probe itself, as molecular probes tend to be significantly affected by the macroscopic properties of the system, such as viscosity. In this project we intend to use MuSR spectroscopy to understand the chemical environment inside an IL, as the incredibly small size of muons could make them ideal probes for our research.