Determining diffusion coefficients of ionic liquids by means of field cycling nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry

Field Cycling Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (FC NMR) relaxation studies are reported for three ionic liquids: 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium thiocyanate (EMIM-SCN, 220-258 K), 1-butyl-3methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMIM-BF4, 243-318 K), and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM-PF6, 258-323 K). The dispersion of H-1 spin-lattice relaxation rate R-1(omega) is measured in the frequency range of 10 kHz-20 MHz, and the studies are complemented by F-19 spin-lattice relaxation measurements on BMIM-PF6 in the corresponding frequency range. From the H-1 relaxation results self-diffusion coefficients for the cation in EMIM-SCN, BMIM-BF4, and BMIM-PF6 are determined. This is done by performing an analysis considering all relevant intra-and intermolecular relaxation contributions to the H-1 spin-lattice relaxation as well as by benefiting from the universal low-frequency dispersion law characteristic of Fickian diffusion which yields, at low frequencies, a linear dependence of R-1 on square root of frequency. From the F-19 relaxation both anion and cation diffusion coefficients are determined for BMIM-PF6. The diffusion coefficients obtained from FC NMR relaxometry are in good agreement with results reported from pulsed-field-gradient NMR. This shows that NMR relaxometry can be considered as an alternative route of determining diffusion coefficients of both cations and anions in ionic liquids. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.