Self-diffusion in ionic liquids with nitrate anion: Effects of confinement between glass plates and static magnetic field

Abstract

© 2020 The Authors Alkylammonium nitrate protic ionic liquids (ILs), when placed between flat polar borosilicate glass plates, have demonstrated enhanced diffusivity and the gradual decrease of diffusivity after exposure to an external static magnetic field (Filippov et al., 2018). This phenomenon has been explained by phase transformations taking place in the ILs. In this study, we observed similar processes occurring in systems prepared with ethylammonium nitrate confined between quartz plates. A higher content of silicon oxide in the plates does not significantly alter the phenomenon previously found in the system prepared with borosilicate glass plates. For the first time, we have observed similar effects of confinement and magnetic field on the aprotic IL, 1‑ethyl‑3‑methylimidazolium nitrate. Substitution of the ethylammonium cation with a 1‑ethyl‑3‑methylimidazolium cation slows down the kinetics and increases magnitude of the processes occurring in the IL exposed to a magnetic field. We suggested that the main factor determining these effects is the presence and modification of the hydrogen-bonding network in the studied protic and aprotic ILs. The process of inverse phase transformation for the confined ethylammonium nitrate after removing the sample from the magnetic field was observed and analysed.