Vacuum Electrochemistry in Ionic Liquids

摘要

The synthesis of nanoparticles is a hot topic in the field of IL research. The synthesis of variety of nanoparticles from ILs in vacuum is possible by different methods, such as sputter deposition or physical vapor deposition of metals onto surfaces of the liquids in vacuum, reduction with free electrons in a scanning electron microscope and plasma electrochemical approaches. The advantage of using ILs as a medium for nanoparticle synthesis is that the derived nanoparticles can be stabilized without the presence of any adventitious stabilizing agent. Ionic liquids have created a pathway for performing electrochemistry under vacuum. The electrons from electron microscopes or from plasma can be used directly as reducing agents in such a process/experiment. One can monitor and investigate electrochemical processes at the IL/vacuum interface and at the IL/electrode interface in classical electrochemical cells using SEM or photoelectron spectroscopy, provided the precursors used have a low vapor pressure. The need for low vapor pressure precursors is one of the disadvantages of vacuum electrochemistry. However, with an optimized cell design, such challenges can be overcome.