Loading-Controlled Stiffening in Nanoconfined Ionic Liquids

An important strategy for using ionic liquids is to immobilize them by impregnation cif supports or incorporation into porous solids to obtain materials called ionogels. Of considerable importance for applications (electrolyte membranes, supported catalysts, etc.), such confinement results in dramatic changes in the physicochemical properties of the ionic liquid. Here, we report molecular simulations of a silica nanopore that is gradually filled with a typical imidazolium salt ionic liquid to obtain a realistic model of these ionogels. Despite the significant layering and stiffening of the ionic liquid in the vicinity of the silica surface, the pair correlation functions and magnitude of its dynamics clearly evidence liquid-like behavior. An increase in the self-diffusivity and ionic conductivity, associated with a decrease in the characteristic residence times of ions at the silica surface, is observed upon increasing the loading as the ionic liquid fills the nanopore center and tends to recover its bulk properties.