On the Atomistic Nature of Capacitance Enhancement Generated by Ionic Liquid Electrolyte Confined in Subnanometer Pores

The capacitance enhancement experimentally observed in electrodes with complex morphology of random subnanometer wide pores is an intriguing phenomena, yet the mechanisms for such enhancement are not completely understood. Our atomistic molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate that in subnanometer slit-geometry nanopores, a factor of 2 capacitance enhancement (compared to a flat electrode) is possible for the 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMIM)-bis(trifluoro-methylsulfonyl)imide (TFSI) ionic liquid electrolyte. This capacitance enhancement is a result of a fast charge separation inside the nanopore due to abrupt expulsion of co-ions from the pore while maintaining an elevated counterion density due to strong screening of electrostatic repulsive interactions by the conductive pore. Importantly, we find that the capacitance enhancement can be very asymmetric. For the negatively charged 7.5 angstrom wide pore, the integral capacitance is 100% larger than on a flat surface; however, on the positive electrode, almost no enhancement is observed. Detailed analysis of structure and composition of electrolyte inside nanopores shows that the capacitance enhancement and the shape of differential capacitance details of the ion chemical structure and a delicate balance of ion surface and ion ion interactions. strongly depend on the details of the ion chemical structure and a delicate balance of ion-surface and ion-ion interactions.