Ionic Self-diffusion Research Articles

First principles modeling of WO3 transport in molten Na2WO4 via a grotthuss-like mechanism and the kinetic characterization involved

Between the inherent difficulties associated with high temperature experiments and the inherent complexity of multi-component liquid phase systems, a Grotthuss-like transport mechanism for WO3 in molten Na2WO4 has been discovered and investigated in order to deepen the understanding of the properties of the Na2WO4-WO3 molten salt and to broaden its applications in areas such as electroplating, catalysis and energy. The research on the Grotthuss-like transport mechanism of WO3 in molten Na2WO4 shows that the mass transfer rate of this mechanism is about 1.5 times faster than the self-diffusion of tungsten ions. The bridging oxygen bond of W2O72- is longer, the Mayer bond level is lower and has a smaller ELF than that of the non-bridging oxygen bond, which makes the bridging oxygen bond more susceptible to breakage. The total energy, Pauli mutual repulsion energy and orbital interaction energy of the non-bridging oxygen bond are larger than those of the bridging oxygen bond. The transition state of the W2O72- dissociation process is the torsion of the bridging oxygen bond with a potential barrier of 42.903 kJ/mol.

Effect of Relative Mass on Ion Velocity Cross-Correlations in Ionic Liquids and Molten Salts: Different Perspectives in Different Reference Frames.

In electrolytes, the self- and interdiffusion coefficients, transport numbers, and electrical conductivity can be used to determine velocity cross-correlation coefficients (VCC) that are also accessible through molecular dynamics simulations. In an ionic liquid or molten salt, there are only three, corresponding to correlations between the velocities of distinct ion pairs (cation-anion, cation-cation, and anion-anion) averaged over both the ensemble and time, calculable from experimental ion self-diffusion coefficients and the electrolyte conductivity. Most usually, the mass-fixed frame of reference (with velocities relative to that of the center of mass of the system) is used to discuss the VCC and the distinct diffusion coefficients (DDC) derived from them. Recent work in the literature has suggested a dependence of the DDC on the ratio of the anion to cation mass. Here, we demonstrate, using our own and literature transport property data for a large number of ionic liquids and molten salts, that the trends observed depend on the particular choice of velocity reference frame, mass-, number-, or volume-fixed. The perception of ion-ion interactions may be distorted in the mass- and volume fixed frames when the co-ions have very different masses or volumes, particularly for systems containing light lithium ions.

Molecular dynamics simulation of microstructure and thermophysical properties of LiCl–CaCl2eutectic molten salt

AbstractChloride molten salt systems are widely used as electrolytes for molten salt electrolysis because of their relatively low eutectic temperatures and good thermal stability, but there is a serious lack of data on the thermophysical properties of chloride molten salts at elevated temperatures, whereas the nature of the electrolyte is very important for the electrolysis process. In this paper, the variation of the microstructure and thermophysical properties of the binary mixed LiCl–CaCl2molten salt system with temperature and composition is calculated using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on the BMH potential. The microscopic conformations observed in LiCl–CaCl2molten salts are mainly irregular, distorted tetrahedra and octahedra, which dynamically coexist, as analyzed by the radial distribution function, coordination number and angular distribution function. In addition, the effects of temperature and composition on the density, ionic self-diffusion coefficient, shear viscosity, and ionic conductivity of the molten salts were investigated, and the relationships of the thermophysical properties of LiCl–CaCl2molten salts with temperature and composition were obtained, which provide fundamental thermophysical data for the molten salt electrolytes.

Layered Monoclinic Perrierite Oxo-Silicate La4Mn5Si4O22+Δ: A New Interstitial Oxide Ion Conductor for Low Temperature Applications

Oxide-ion conductors are important for various energy applications such as solid oxide fuel cells, solid oxide electrolyser cells, oxygen separation membranes, oxygen sensors, etc. State-of-the-art stable oxygen active materials often have adequate oxygen ion diffusion and chemical surface exchange only at high temperatures (> 700 oC). A promising strategy to improve the oxygen ion transport is to use the interstitial oxygen ion conductors as the interstitial diffusion barriers are often lower than vacancy-mediated diffusion barrier, potentially enabling reduced operation temperatures. However, due to the large size of the oxide ion, the formation of an adequate concentration of interstitials is difficult and hence the number of interstitial oxygen conductors is currently limited to just a handful of compounds, e.g., Ruddlesden-Popper, apatite, melilite, scheelite, fluorite and disordered hexagonal perovskites.We screened a large number of oxide materials using high-throughput ab initio methods (Please see separate poster from Jun Meng on this screening) and predicted stable formation and fast diffusion of interstitial oxygen in a new class of material La4Mn5Si4O22+δ (LMS), motivating us to synthesize this material and experimentally study its oxide ion transport properties. The room temperature X-ray diffraction study followed by Rietveld refinement confirmed its layered monoclinic perrierite structure. Electron probe micro-analysis (EPMA) and iodometric titration revealed the presence of the hyper stoichiometric oxygen anion (δ ~ + 0.5) confirming the interstitial oxygen ions within LMS lattice. Thermogravimetric analysis showed a small mass increment in LMS when heated at high temperatures suggesting the high temperature stability of interstitial oxygen ions. The measured ionic conductivity of LMS is higher than the yttria stabilized ZrO2, perovskite oxide La1-xSrxCo1-yFeyO3 and Ruddlesden-Popper oxide materials. Electrical conductivity relaxation studies demonstrated that self-diffusion and surface exchange coefficients of oxygen ion are comparable to or higher than many state-of-the-art oxide ion conductors. Finally, the high temperature stability of the synthesised material was confirmed using X-ray diffraction after each measurement.Overall, this experimental study confirms computational predictions that layered perrierite LMS is a new class of interstitial oxide ion conductors and suggests our overall approach may help the rational design of interstitial mediated oxide ion conductors-based devices suitable for efficient and stable applications at low temperature.

MD Simulation and Transport Property Analysis of Silicon in High-Temperature Molten Fluoride Salts Electrolyte

Silicon is the dominant solar material because of its abundance, low cost, and high solar efficiency. But manufacturing high-purity silicon required for solar energy is very complex, hard to scale, and unsafe since it involves dealing with toxic flammable gases. Therefore, a new solar silicon production technology based on molten salt electrolysis has been proposed. To comprehensively study the self-diffusion and deposition mechanism of silicon ions in high-temperature molten salt electrolyte and their composition and temperature dependence, both interatomic potential molecular dynamics (IPMD) and ab-initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) are introduced. Thermodynamics and transport properties of molten salt electrolyte such as density, heat capacity, viscosity etc. are investigated and compared to the existed experimental results. Also, local structural information and coordination number analysis are obtained and discussed.

Disentangling the effects of non-adiabatic interactions upon ion self-diffusion within warm dense hydrogen.

Warm dense matter is a material state in the region of parameter space connecting condensed matter to classical plasma physics. In this intermediate regime, we investigate the significance of non-adiabatic electron-ion interactions upon ion dynamics. To disentangle non-adiabatic from adiabatic electron-ion interactions, we compare the ion self-diffusion coefficient from the non-adiabatic electron force field computational model with an adiabatic, classical molecular dynamics simulation. A classical pair potential developed through a force-matching algorithm ensures the only difference between the models is due to the electronic inertia. We implement this new method to characterize non-adiabatic effects on the self-diffusion of warm dense hydrogen over a wide range of temperatures and densities. Ultimately we show that the impact of non-adiabatic effects is negligible for equilibrium ion dynamics in warm dense hydrogen. This article is part of the theme issue 'Dynamic and transient processes in warm dense matter'.

Transport Properties of Protic Ionic Liquids Based on Triazolium and Imidazolium: Development of an Air-Free Conductivity Setup.

The dynamical properties of four protic ionic liquids, based on the ethyltriazolium ([C2HTr124]) and the ethylimidazolium ([C2HIm]) cation, were investigated. The associated anions were the triflate ([TfO]) and the bistriflimide ([TFSI]). Ionic conductivity values and self-diffusion coefficients were measured and discussed, extending the discussion to the concept of fragility. Furthermore, in order to allow the measurement of the ionic conductivity of very small volumes (<0.5 mL) of ionic liquid under an inert and dry atmosphere, a new setup was developed. It was found that the cation nature strongly affected the transport properties, the [C2HTr124] cation resulting in slower dynamics than the [C2HIm] one. This was concluded from both conductivity and diffusivity measurements while for both properties, the anion had a lesser effect. By fitting the conductivity data with the Vogel-Fulcher-Tammann (VFT) equation, we could also estimate the fragility of these ionic liquids, which all fell in the range of very fragile glass-forming materials. Finally, the slower dynamics observed in the triazolium-based ionic liquids can be rationalized by the stronger interactions that this cation establishes with both anions, as deduced from the frequency analysis of relevant Raman signatures and density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

Mechanism of mixed alkali effect in silicate glass/liquid: Pathway and network analysis

The mixed alkali effect in silicate glass/liquid causes two anomalies: a decrease in the self-diffusivity of alkali ions and a decrease in shear viscosity. Previous studies using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations proposed that the decrease in diffusivity of alkali ions is the result of pathway blocking. However, the actual statistics of the pathway have never been presented. In this study, we revisited the mixed alkali effect in sodium–potassium silicate glass/liquid using MD simulations. The distinct part of van Hove's function indicates that site exchange between different alkali species is significantly slower than between the same species. By introducing simplex sphere analysis and its cluster statistics with varying compositions, we clarified the pathway disconnection caused by alkali mixing. Moreover, we analyzed the geometry and topology of the corner-shared network of the SiO4 tetrahedra precisely. Both the geometry and topology change linearly with advancing alkali substitution, whereas the calculated shear viscosities have a minimum in the mixed alkali composition. Consequently, a method to quantitatively analyze the changes in relaxation dynamics is required to clarify the viscosity anomaly in mixed alkali liquids.

The physicochemical properties of the CeF3 – FLiNaK molten mixture: an in silico study

ABSTRACT This study is devoted to the physicochemical properties of CeF3 – FLiNaK molten mixture with various CeF3 concentrations. Density, local structure, mean ion pair lifetimes, heat capacity, self-diffusion coefficients and viscosity were calculated using the classical molecular dynamics method. Most of the properties were studied in the temperature range of 950–1200 K. Taking into consideration data obtained both in this study and in the previous ab initio simulations we quantitatively describe the local structure dynamics. Specifically, the stability of [CeFn] groupings is discussed in detail. To ensure the reliability of the results obtained, the pair potentials for the Ce3+-Ce3+ and Ce3+-F− pairs were carefully fitted through the two-stage algorithm consisting of ab initio energy calculation and fine stochastic optimization.

MOLECULAR DYNAMICS SIMULATION OF MOLTEN NiF&lt;sub&gt;2&lt;/sub&gt;: STRUCTURE AND TRANSPORT PROPERTIES

Computer modeling of molten nickel fluoride was carried out using classical molecular dynamics in the temperature range 1750–1900 K. The density of crystalline NiF2 with a relative error of less than 1% verified the parameters of the pair potential obtained in the framework of the quantum-chemical approximation. The calculated radial distribution functions and coordination numbers for the Ni–F pair indicate a distorted octahedral environment of the nickel cation in the melt. In this case, a slight decrease in the nearest cation-anion distance was found in comparison with solid nickel fluoride. It is shown that the curve of the radial distribution function for the fluorine-fluorine pair near the main peak splits into two maxima. The position of the first peak at 2.67 Å is characterized by a coordination number of 5.1 and describes neighboring anions in a distorted octahedron. Whereas, the second maximum can be associated with fluorine anions located along the F–Ni–F line with a peak position at 3.83 Å, which indicates a decrease in a similar distance compared to the crystal. The coefficients of self-diffusion of ions and the viscosity of the NiF2 melt at different temperatures were calculated.

Temperature and Pressure Dependence of the Transport Properties of the Ionic Liquid Triethyloctylphosphonium Bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide, [P222,8][Tf2N

Viscosities of triethyloctylphosphonium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)amide, [P222,8][Tf2N], are reported as a function of temperature [(273 to 363) K] and pressure (maximum 302 MPa) with a falling-body viscometer together with electrical conductivities (κ) measured by impedance spectroscopy at (283 to 348) K, to 250 MPa maximum pressure. pVT data were determined with a vibrating tube densimeter from (298 to 353) K to 50 MPa. Ion self-diffusion coefficients (DSi) were measured by steady-gradient spin-echo NMR [(313 to 365) K], and densities [(273 to 363) K] were determined with a vibrating tube densimeter, both at atmospheric pressure. The results were correlated with Walden and Stokes–Einstein–Sutherland relations. Velocity cross-correlation coefficients (VCC), distinct diffusion coefficients (DDC) and Laity resistance coefficients (LRC) were calculated from DSi and κ at 0.1 MPa. The DDC and LRC for [P222,8][Tf2N] and the pentyl-substituted analogue, [P222,5][Tf2N], showed differences for cation–cation and cation–anion velocity anti correlations, presumably due to the different cation structures. The high-pressure viscosities were used to predict the pressure dependence of the glass-transition temperature for [P222,5][Tf2N] and [P222,8][Tf2N]. Density scaling was applied to the high-pressure viscosities and conductivities of [P222,8][Tf2N] for comparison with [P222,5][Tf2N]. The scaling parameters are consistent with the theoretical treatment of Knudsen et al. for ionic liquids.

Computational Study of the Physical Properties of a High Temperature Molten Salt Mixture of FLiNaK and CeF3

In this work, we study the diffusion characteristics and structure of the molten salt FLiNaK with dissolved CeF3 in the operating temperature range of the molten-salt reactor. The temperature dependence of the self-diffusion coefficients of the ions that make up the salt mixture is represented with good accuracy as a linear dependence, except for the case of self-diffusion of Ce ions. As a rule, Li and F ions are more mobile than Na and K ions and significantly more so than slow Ce ions. The coordination numbers and their increase upon dissolution of CeF3 in FLiNaK were determined based on the calculation of partial radial distribution functions. The detailed structure of the melt is studied based on the construction of Voronoi polyhedra. The obtained topological characteristics indicate a predominantly tetrahedral type of distribution of Ce ions over the bulk of the system. Rotational symmetry of the 5th order prevails in the structure of the Li and F subsystems, and symmetries of the 3rd and 4th orders prevail in the Na and K subsystems, respectively. The simulation results can be used to search for actinide, which can be replaced by cerium in real experiments.

Structure and self-diffusivity of alkali-halide electrolytes in neutral and charged graphene nanochannels.

Understanding the microscopic behaviour of aqueous electrolyte solutions in graphene-based ultrathin nanochannels is important in nanofluidic applications such as water purification, fuel cells, and molecular sensing. Under extreme confinement (<2 nm), the properties of water and ions differ drastically from those in the bulk phase. We studied the structural and diffusion behaviour of prototypical aqueous solutions of electrolytes (LiCl, NaCl, and KCl) confined in both neutral and positively-, and negatively-charged graphene nanochannels. We performed molecular dynamics simulations of the solutions in the nanochannels with either one, two- or three-layer water structures using the effectively polarisable force field for graphene. We analysed the structure and intermolecular bond network of the confined solutions along with their relation to the self-diffusivity of water and ions. The simulations show that Na and K cations can more easily rearrange their solvation shells under the graphene nanoconfinement and adsorb on the graphene surfaces or dissolve in the confinement-induced layered water than the Li cation. The negative surface charge together with the presence of ions orient water molecules with hydrogens towards the graphene surfaces, which in turn weakens the intermolecular bond network. The one-layer nanochannels have the biggest effect on the water structure and intermolecular bonding as well as on the adsorption of ions with only co-ions entering these nanochannels. The self-diffusivity of confined water is strongly reduced with respect to the bulk water and decreases with diminishing nanochannel heights except for the negatively-charged one-layer nanochannel. The self-diffusivity of ions also decreases with the reducing the nanochannel heights except for the self-diffusivity of cations in the negatively-charged one-layer nanochannel, evidencing cooperative diffusion of confined water and ions. Due to the significant break-up of the intermolecular bond network in the negatively-charged one-layer nanochannel, self-diffusion coefficients of water and cations exceed those for the two- and three-layer nanochannels and become comparable to the bulk values.

Ionic conductivity, viscosity, and self-diffusion coefficients of novel imidazole salts for lithium-ion battery electrolytes

Alkyl chain length influences ionicity, conductivity, and viscosity of lithium imidazole salts.

Tracing the Effect of Replacing [Gly]- with [Ala]- and Hydroxylation of [emim]+ on the Fine-Tuning of the Transport Properties of the Corresponding Amino Acid-Based Ionic Liquids Using MD Simulation.

Natural amino acid-based ionic liquids (AAILs) composed of deprotonated amino acids, [AA]-, as anions and hydroxylated imidazolium cations provide an eco-friendly nontoxic IL family with the growing number of chemical and biochemical revolutionary applications. In this paper, the transport properties of four AAILs composed of 1-(2-hydroxyethyl)-3-methylimidazolium ([HOemim]+) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium ([emim]+) cations with alaninate and glycinate anions were studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A nonpolarizable all-atom force field with the scaled charge (±0.8e) on each of the ions was applied and compared with the unit charge model in some cases. The tunable effects of the presence of the hydroxyl group in the side chain of the imidazolium cation, the type of amino acid anion, and the varied temperature on the dynamical behavior of AAILs were investigated in detail. The experimentally compatible trends of the simulated ionic self-diffusion coefficients, ionic conductivity, and ionicity were found to be inverse to the viscosity and ionic association of these ILs as [emim][Gly] > [emim][Ala] > [HOemim][Gly] > [HOemim][Ala]. The main reason behind these trends is the higher ability of the hydroxylated cation for the hydrogen-bond formation with [AA]-. The mean square displacement (MSD), self-diffusion, and transference number of imidazolium cations are larger than those of [AA]- anions, except in the case of [HOemim][Gly]. It was found that the activation energy for diffusion of [AA]- is lower than that of [HOemim]+ but higher than that of [emim]+ in [HOemim][AA] and [emim][AA] ILs, respectively. The computed velocity autocorrelation function (VACF) showed that [Gly]-, as the lightest ion, has the shortest mean collision time and velocity randomization time among the ions, especially in the [HOemim][Gly] IL. Replacing [emim]+ with [HOemim]+, similar to the effect of decreasing temperature, causes significant decreasing of the ionic self-diffusion and increasing of the well depth of the first minimum of the ionic VACFs. Current findings show that introducing suitable functional groups in the side chain of imidazolium cations can be a viable approach for efficient engineering design and fine-tuning of the transport properties of these AAILs.

Development of an insilico model of eccrine sweat using molecular modelling techniques

Eccrine sweat is an ideal surrogate diagnostic biofluid for physiological and metabolic biomarkers for wearable biosensor design. Its periodic and non-invasive availability for candidate analytes such as glucose and cortisol along with limited correlation with blood plasma is of significant research interest. An insilico model of eccrine sweat can assist in the development of such wearable biosensors. In this regard, molecular modelling can be employed to observe the most fundamental interactions. Here, we determine a suitable molecular model for building eccrine sweat. The basic components of sweat are water and sodium chloride, in which glucose and other analytes are present in trace quantities. Given the wide range of water models available in the molecular dynamics space, in this study, we first validate the water models. We use three compounds to represent the base to build bulk sweat fluid and validate the force fields. We compare the self-diffusivity of water, glucose, sodium, and chloride ions as well as bulk viscosity values and present the results which are > 90% accurate as compared with the available literature. This validated insilico eccrine sweat model can serve as an aid to expedite the development de novo biosensors by addition of other analytes of interest e.g. cortisol, uric acid etc., simulate various temperatures and salt concentrations, expand search space for screening candidate target receptors by their binding affinity and assess the interference between competing species via simulations.

Highly-efficient molten NaOH-KOH for organochlorine destruction: Performance and mechanism

Molten salt has been increasingly acknowledged to be useful in the destruction of chlorine-containing organic wastes (COWs), e.g., organochlorine. However, the operational temperatures are usually high, and local structure and thermodynamic property of the molten salt remain largely unclear. In this study, novel molten NaOH-KOH is developed for organochlorine destruction, and its eutectic point can be lowered to 453 K with 1:1 mol ratio of NaOH to KOH. Further experiment shows that this molten NaOH-KOH is highly-efficient towards the destructions of both trichlorobenzene and dichlorophenol, acquiring the final dechlorination efficiencies as 88.2% and 94.1%, respectively. The organochlorine destruction and chloride salt enrichment are verified by fourier-transform infrared spectrometer. Molten NaOH-KOH not only eliminates the C-Cl and CC bonds, but also traps generated CO2, other acidic gases, and possibly particulate matters as a result of the high surface area and high viscosity. This makes it possibly advantageous over incineration for organic waste destruction for carbon neutrality. To sufficiently reveal the inherent mechanism for the temperature dependent performance, molecular dynamics simulation is further adopted. Results show that the radial distance between ions increases with temperature, causing larger molar volume and lower resistance to shear deformation. Moreover, thermal expansion coefficient, specific heat capacity, and ion self-diffusion coefficient of the molten NaOH-KOH are found to increase linearly with temperature. All these microscopic alterations contribute to the organochlorine destruction. This study benefits to develop highly-efficient molten system for COWs treatment via a low-carbon approach.

Molecular dynamics study of hydroxide ion diffusion in polymer electrolytes

Understanding the transport of hydroxide ion through polymer films designed to function as alkaline exchange membranes in fuel cells or solid-state alkaline electrolytes in batteries is critical to optimizing these materials for high power performance in these devices. We use molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to interrogate solid polymer electrolytes comprising methylated poly(dimethylaminomethyl styrene) (“pDMAMS+”) bearing hydroxide counterions to counterbalance the positively charged quaternized amino moiety. We elucidate the effects on hydroxide ion diffusivity of ion exchange capacity (IEC, 1.5–5.2 mEq g−1), hydration level (λ = 0–3 water molecules per ion), and co-polymerization with 4-butylstyrene (0–75 mol%), a charge-neutral monomer with similar properties to DMAMS. At 300 K, MD simulations yield a hydroxide ion self-diffusion coefficient in anhydrous pDMAMS+ of ∼ 0.02 μm2 s−1 and a glass-transition temperature (Tg) of ∼ 800 K, values that remain relatively unchanged for films with up to 50% 4-butylstyrene content. Increasing the 4-butylstyrene content to 75% results in a polymer with a lower Tg, ∼500 K, and a corresponding three-fold increase in the hydroxide ion diffusion coefficient to ∼ 0.06 μm2 s−1. As expected, increasing the hydration level increases both hydroxide diffusivity and conductivity across the entire range of compositions. 4-butylstyrene content lowers the available ion content, eventually decreasing overall hydroxide conductivity. MD simulations provide a powerful method to estimate the ion and co-monomer contents that will maximize hydroxide conductivity for a given range of polymer compositions and hydration, greatly reducing the need to synthesize and test the full range of compositions experimentally.

Molecular dynamics simulation analysis of sulfonated polybenzimidazole/[formula omitted]: A potential polymer electrolyte membrane for high-temperature fuel cells

In this research work, the ionic conductivity performance of a prospective candidate polymer electrolyte membrane, sulfonated polybenzimidazole/[DEMA+][NTf2-], was investigated using the molecular dynamics simulation technique. At first, a unit cell consisting of three chains (each one consisting 30 monomers) of polybenzimidazole polymer was determined as the optimum amorphous unit cell by comparing the simulated solubility parameter and glass transition temperature with available experimental data. Furthermore, the behavior of the ionic self-diffusion coefficients was investigated using the mean square displacement curves. It was found that the diffusion of [DEMA+] and [NTf2-] depends on the degrees of sulfonation (DS) values: with increasing DS, the ionic self-diffusion coefficients enhance, which could be attributed to a reduction in [DEMA+][NTf2-]- polymer chains interactions. The results revealed that the simulated ionic conductivities of this ionic liquid-based membrane is comparable with other electrolyte membranes and would be suitable for high-temperature applications. In addition, the investigation was complemented with analysis of plausible proton conduction pathways by evaluating the radial/angular distribution function and cationic/anionic clusters. The results suggest that proton hopping through very short ionic bridges is possible but could not be dominated. This work would pave the way for further research into the new protic ionic liquid -doped sulfonated polybenzimidazole membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

How do external forces related to mass and charge affect the structures and dynamics of an ionic liquid?

Ionic liquids (ILs) are novel promising materials widely used in various fields. Their structures and properties can be tuned by means of external perturbations, thus further broadening their applications. Herein, forces proportional to atomic mass (mass-related field) and atomic charge (electric field) are applied in molecular dynamics simulations to the IL 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide to investigate the origin of the resulting changes in structures and dynamics. The results show that both electric and mass-related fields cause the ion cages to expand and deform, eventually leading to their breakdown to produce a transformation of ILs from the cage structure to a channel-like structure, which results in faster self-diffusion of ions in the directions of the applied force and to a lesser extent other directions. Further comparison of electric and mass-related fields demonstrates that only the electric fields reorientate cations to produce a hydrodynamically favored conformation in the force direction, which shows faster diffusion. The cis isomer of the anion is preferred in the presence of the electric fields, whereas applying the forces proportional to mass does not change the anion conformer equilibrium significantly. The results presented in this work aid in the understanding of how ions adjust their structures to adapt to external perturbations and facilitate the application of ILs as electrolytes.