Structural and Morphological Description of Sn/SnO Core-Shell Nanoparticles Synthesized and Isolated from Ionic Liquid.

The potential application of high capacity Sn-based electrode materials for energy storage, particularly in rechargeable batteries, has led to extensive research activities. In this scope, the development of an innovative synthesis route allowing to downsize particles to the nanoscale is of particular interest owing to the ability of such nanomaterial to better accommodate volume changes upon electrochemical reactions. Here, we report on the use of room temperature ionic liquid (i.

Synthesis of tin nanocrystals in room temperature ionic liquids.

The aim of this work was to investigate the synthesis of tin nanoparticles (NPs) or tin/carbon composites, in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs), that could be used as structured anode materials for Li-ion batteries. An innovative route for the synthesis of Sn nanoparticles in such media is successfully developed. Compositions, structures, sizes and morphologies of NPs were characterized by high-energy X-ray diffraction (HEXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM).

Directed evolution of a model primordial enzyme provides insights into the development of the genetic code.

The contemporary proteinogenic repertoire contains 20 amino acids with diverse functional groups and side chain geometries. Primordial proteins, in contrast, were presumably constructed from a subset of these building blocks. Subsequent expansion of the proteinogenic alphabet would have enhanced their capabilities, fostering the metabolic prowess and organismal fitness of early living systems.

Electrochemical and spectral properties of ferrocene (Fc) in ionic liquid: 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium triflimide, [BMIM][NTf(2)]. Concentration effects.

Several earlier studies of the electrochemical oxidation of ferrocene (Fc) in room-temperature ionic liquids revealed an essentially nonlinear dependence of the oxidation current on the Fc concentration in its relatively dilute solutions, with its formally calculated diffusion coefficient strongly increasing with the concentration. Since no plausible mechanism leading to this very unusual finding had been proposed, our study of Fc solutions in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium triflimide, [BMIM][NTf(2)], was performed to verify whether the above observation originated from an incorrect determination of the dissolved Fc concentration. Our observations have demonstrated that reliable control of the Fc concentration in solution is complicated by factors such as the low amount of Fc used to prepare small-volume solutions or the great difficulty to dissolve completely a solid powder in a solvent with an extremely high viscosity.

Redox-switched amphiphilic ionic liquid behavior in aqueous solution.

A new redox amphiphilic ionic liquid (AIL) containing ferrocene as a redox-active group was synthesized, 1-(11-ferrocenylundecyl)-3-methylimidazolium bromide (Fc11MIm+). Adsorption and aggregation of both reduced and oxidized forms of this ferrocenated AIL in aqueous solution were studied by surface tension measurements. The micellization was favored for the reduced ferrocenated AIL (Fc11MIm+) as compared with the oxidized ferrocenated AIL (Fc+11MIm+).

Behaviour of a binary solvent mixture constituted by an amphiphilic ionic liquid, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide and water Potentiometric and conductimetric studies.

We investigated the properties of 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide (DMImBr), a molten salt at room temperature, and its mixtures with water in the whole proportions. At low concentrations, this salt behaved like a classical cationic amphiphile. Its critical micellar concentration (cmc) was determined by conductimetry and by measuring electromotive forces (EMF) with bromide or cationic surfactant-selective electrodes.

Ion transfer processes at ionic liquid based redox active drop deposited on an electrode surface.

Ion transfer across the boundary formed at an ionic liquid drop deposited on an electrode immersed in aqueous solution, generated by electrochemical redox reaction at the electrode-ionic liquid interface, is studied to obtain information about the ability of anions to be transferred into a room temperature ionic liquid.