A Combined Experimental and Molecular Dynamics Study of Iodide-Based Ionic Liquid and Water Mixtures.

Iodide-based ionic liquids have been widely employed as iodide sources in electrolytes for applications utilizing the triiodide/iodide redox couple. While adding a low-viscosity solvent such as water to ionic liquids can greatly enhance their usefulness, mixtures of highly viscous iodide-containing ILs with water have never been studied. This paper investigates, for the first time, mixtures of water and the ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium iodide ([BMIM][I]) through a combined experimental and molecular dynamics study.

Spontaneous transport of microparticles across liquid-liquid interfaces.

Transporting micrometer-sized particles through the liquid-liquid interface generally requires high shear force and sometimes surfactant functionalization. Without these aids, particles adhere to the interface due to strong capillary forces (can be on the order of 10(6) kT). Thus, spontaneous transport of microparticles through the liquid-liquid interface has not yet been reported.