Amanda Arrufat Román
Mechanical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (Summer 2024)
Faculty Advisor: Yamil J. Colón, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Electrostrictive Properties of Ionic Liquids (Summer 2024)
New advancements in chemical separation processes are necessary to sustainably meet the increasing demand for electronics.1 Particularly, progress is needed in solvent design under the influence of external stimuli.2 Ionic liquids (ILs) offer an opportunity to investigate the effect of external stimuli such as external electric fields (EEFs) on separation media. ILs are composed of a cation and anion and are found to be liquids around room temperature. They have thermophysical properties that make them attractive solvents for sustainable separation processes such as low volatility, high thermal stability, and tuneability of their thermophysical properties.3 Moreover, their charged nature makes them a great test case to investigate how the direct effects of EEFs on nanoscale dynamics and structure can impact the thermophysical properties of solvents under external stimuli. We will establish structure-property relationships for the electrostrictive properties of ILs by employing molecular dynamic simulations.4 Through these computations we will quantify the effect of EEF on IL density and establish structure-property relationships by correlating such responses to the chemical structure of ions across multiple systems.
References:
(1) Eggert, R.; Wadia, C.; Anderson, C.; Bauer, D.; Fields, F.; Meinert, L.; Taylor, P. Rare Earths: Market Disruption, Innovation, and Global Supply Chains. Annu Rev Environ Resour 2016, 41 (1), 199–222. https://doi.org/10.1146/
(2) A Research Agenda for Transforming Separation Science; National Academies Press: Washington, D.C., 2019. https://doi.org/10.17226/25421
(3) Welton, T. Ionic Liquids: A Brief History. Biophys Rev 2018, 10 (3), 691–706. https://doi.org/10.1007/
(4) Carmona Esteva, F. J.; Zhang, Y.; Colón, Y. J.; Maginn, E. J. Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Influence of External Electric Fields on the Glass Transition Temperature of the Ionic Liquid 1-Ethyl-3-Methylimidazolium Bis(Trifluoromethylsulfonyl)