(Invited) Control of Diffusion Behavior of Metal Ions Close to Electrode By Using of Local Structure of Ionic Liquid Electrolyte

Abstract

Ionic liquids (ILs) have attracted keen attention due to its applicability to various kinds of electrochemical devices. However, we still lack enough knowledge on the interface structure and spatial distribution of chemical species during the electrochemical processes. In our previous study, we succeeded in the observation of the spatial distribution of XPS spectra close to the electrode under the applied potential using scanning electrochemical photoelectron spectroscopy (Scanning EC-PES) we originally developed. Interestingly, the shape of the diffusion layer (The spatial distribution of the concentration of the metal ions) was largely different from the concave function usually supposed in the case of aqueous solution. By a numerical simulation, we revealed that the characteristic shape of the diffusion layer of IL electrolyte was formed due to the fact that the metal ions diffused by the fast hopping-like mechanism, in which the apparent diffusion coefficient increased with increasing of the concentration of 'holes' (vacancies formed between IL molecules) acting as hopping sites. Based on these results, we proposed the new diffusion model in which hopping diffusion and conventional diffusion (which follows Stokes-Einstein equation) coexist. The most prominent feature of our diffusion model is that the local structure of ionic liquid (hole density, arrangement of the holes and/or IL molecules) strongly affect the diffusion behavior of metal ions.On the other hand, it can be anticipated that the local structure of ILs can be systematically controlled by the IL species (e.g. the alkyl chain length of imidazole cation, shape and size of anion), additive ions and/or temperature of solution. By using of these techniques for controlling the local structure of ILs, we can strictly control the diffusion behavior of metal ions close to the electrode. In other words, we will be able to propose the new strategy for controlling the diffusion behavior of solutes in ionic liquid solutions close to the electrode. In this study, we investigated the factors for controlling the diffusion behavior of metal ion in IL electrolyte based on our proposing diffusion model, and revealed that the behavior of metal ions can be controlled by some factors mentioned above.