Vibrational spectral dynamics and ion-probe interactions of the hydrogen-bonded liquids in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide

Abstract

We investigate ion-probe interactions within the molecular liquid, examine dynamics, and interpret the vibrational spectral dynamics of the mixtures of ionic liquid, 1-Ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, [EMIm][NTf2] with the probes of varying alkyl chain length – HOD, methanol-d4, ethanol-d6. Structural analysis depicts pronounced interactions of the oxygen atom of HOD with the corresponding anionic oxygen site rather than the hydrogen atom located at the two-position of the imidazolium ring. Our computed frequency distribution for each of the probes in IL exhibits similarity with the experimental linear FT-IR spectrum. We further performed the orientational anisotropy calculations; the ion reorientation plays a significant role in determining the transport properties in ILs. The results of rotational anisotropy of the O-D bond vector reflect the hydrogen bond length-scale fluctuations and collective reorientation associated with the complete structural reorganization of the probe modes. Our findings in this study agree well with the earlier experimental and simulation studies.