Electrochemistry in Neutral Ambient-Temperature Ionic Liquids. 1. Studies of Iron (III), Neodymium (III), and Lithium(I)

摘要

An ambient-temperature 'neutral' ionic liquid composed of aluminum chloride and either N-1-butylpyridinium or 1-methyl-3-ethylimidazolium chloride, BuPyCl or ImCl, respectively, has been employed in studies that take advantage of their unusual properties. These include an extended electrochemical window, readily controlled additions of excess chloride (base) or aluminum chloride (acid), and the fact that the physical properties of the 'neutral' melt do not change about the 1:1 mole ratio of AlCl3 to RCl. Li(+) was found to be reducible in the 'neutral' AlCl3-ImCl melt, and its diffusion coefficient was found to be .00000086 sq cm/s. The stoichiometry of the complex formed between Nd(III) and Cl(+) in the molten salt system was investigated by what is essentially an amperometric titration and was found to be NdC6(3-). The structure of the Fe(III) chloro complex that exists in basic or acidic melts just slightly varying in composition from the neutral melt was also investigated; a constant value for the diffusion coefficient-viscosity product in both systems suggests no change in structure.