In Situ Scanning Tunnelling Microscopy in Ionic Liquids: Prospects and Challenges

Metal ion adsorption at the ionic liquid-mica interface

Mica has been employed in many studies of ionic liquid (IL) interfaces on account of its atomic smoothness and well defined surface properties. However, until now it has been unclear whether ions dissolved in ILs can compete with the IL cation and adsorb to mica charge sites. In this work amplitude modulated atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) has been used to probe metal ion adsorption at the interface of mica with propylammonium nitrate (PAN), a room temperature IL. Lithium, sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium nitrate salts were added to PAN at a concentration of ∼60 mM. Aluminum nitrate was also investigated, but only at 5 mM because its solubility in PAN is much lower. The AM-AFM images obtained when the metal ions were present are strikingly different to that of pure PAN, indicating that the ions compete effectively with the propylammonium cation and adsorb to negatively charged sites on the mica surface despite their much lower concentration. This is a consequence of electrostatic attractions between the mica charge sites and the metal ions being significantly stronger than for the propylammonium cation; compared to the metal ions the propylammonium charged group is relatively constrained sterically. A distinct honeycomb pattern is noted for the PAN + Al(3+) system, less obviously for the divalent ions and not at all for monovalent ions. This difference is attributed to the strength of electrostatic interactions between metal ions and mica charge sites increasing with the ion charge, which means that divalent and (particularly) trivalent ions are located more precisely above the charged sites of the mica lattice. The images obtained allow important distinctions between metal ion adsorption at mica-water and mica-PAN interfaces to be made.

Ion structure controls ionic liquid near-surface and interfacial nanostructure

A unique, but unifying, feature of ionic liquids (ILs) is that they are nanostructured on the length scale of the ions; in many ILs well-defined polar and apolar domains exist and may percolate through the liquid. Near a surface the isotropic symmetry of the bulk structure is broken, resulting in different nanostructures which, until now, have only been studied indirectly. In this paper, in situ amplitude modulated atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) has been used to resolve the 3-dimensional nanostructure of five protic ILs at and near the surface of mica. The surface and near surface structures are distinct and remarkably well-defined, but are very different from previously accepted descriptions. Interfacial nanostructure is strongly influenced by the registry between cations and the mica surface charge sites, whereas near surface nanostructure is sensitive to both cation and anion structure. Together these ILs reveal how interfacial nanostructure can be tuned through ion structure, informing "bottom-up" design and optimisation of ILs for diverse technologies including heterogeneous catalysis, lubrication, electrochemical processes, and nanofluids.

Interaction of ionic liquids with noble metal surfaces: structure formation and stability of [OMIM][TFSA] and [EMIM][TFSA] on Au(111) and Ag(111)

Principles of structure formation and adsorbate–adsorbate interactions in ionic liquid adlayers on metal surfaces were investigated in a comparative STM study on Ag(111) and Au(111) surfaces.

Near surface properties of mixtures of propylammonium nitrate with n-alkanols 1. Nanostructure

In situ amplitude modulated-atomic force microscopy (AM-AFM) has been used to probe the nanostructure of mixtures of propylammonium nitrate (PAN) with n-alkanols near a mica surface.

Surface polymerization of (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) probed by in situ scanning tunneling microscopy on Au(111) in ionic liquids

The electropolymerization of 3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene (EDOT) to poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) was investigated in the air and water-stable ionic liquids 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate [HMIm]FAP and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) amide [EMIm]TFSA. In situ scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) results show that the electropolymerization of EDOT in the ionic liquid can be probed on the nanoscale. In contrast to present understanding, it was observed that the EDOT can be oxidised in ionic liquids well below its oxidation potential and the under potential growth of polymer was visualized by in situ STM. These results serve as the first study to confirm the under potential growth of conducting polymers in ionic liquids. Furthermore, ex situ microscopy measurements were performed. Quite a high current of 670 nA was observed on the nanoscale by conductive scanning force microscopy (CSFM).