Binding of alkenes and ionic liquids to B-H-functionalized boron nanoparticles: creation of particles with controlled dispersibility and minimal surface oxidation.

The interaction of B-H-functionalized boron nanoparticles with alkenes and nitrogen-rich ionic liquids (ILs) is investigated by a combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, thermogravimetric analysis, and helium ion microscopy. Surface B-H bonds are shown to react with terminal alkenes to produce alkyl-functionalized boron particles. The interaction of nitrogen-rich ILs with the particles appears, instead, to be dominated by boron-nitrogen bonding, even for an ILs with terminal alkene functionality.

Thermal decomposition mechanisms of alkylimidazolium ionic liquids with cyano-functionalized anions.

Because of the unusually high heats of vaporization of room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), volatilization of RTILs through thermal decomposition and vaporization of the decomposition products can be significant. Upon heating of cyano-functionalized anionic RTILs in vacuum, their gaseous products were detected experimentally via tunable vacuum ultraviolet photoionization mass spectrometry performed at the Chemical Dynamics Beamline 9.0.