Abstract
The nonaqueous sol–gel process has been used to synthesize the “ionogels” by confining ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide; [EMIM][TFSI]) into silica gel matrices. The present study is concerned mainly with probing the conformational states of the IL ([EMIM][TFSI]) through crystallization kinetics study of the bulk and confined ionic liquid (IL) in nanopores of silica matrix. The crystallization kinetics has been studied by the isothermal method using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). For bulk IL, DSC result shows three crystallization peaks due to different conformations of IL molecules. DSC results show that one of these crystallization peaks disappears upon confinement due to interaction of IL molecules with the silica pore wall surfaces. The crystallization kinetics of bulk and confined IL is quantified using the Avarami analysis. Confinement of IL results in a decrease of the Avarami exponent, indicating one-dimensional crystal growth. To support the res...
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