Minimizing the electrosorption of water from humid ionic liquids on electrodes

Sheng Bi, Runxi Wang, Shuai Liu, Jiawei Yan (), Bingwei Mao, Alexei A. Kornyshev () and Guang Feng ()
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Sheng Bi: Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST)
Runxi Wang: Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST)
Shuai Liu: Xiamen University
Jiawei Yan: Xiamen University
Bingwei Mao: Xiamen University
Alexei A. Kornyshev: Imperial College London
Guang Feng: Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST)

Nature Communications, 2018, vol. 9, issue 1, 1-9

Abstract: Abstract In supercapacitors based on ionic liquid electrolytes, small amounts of absorbed water could potentially reduce the electrochemical window of electrolytes and cause performance degradation. The same would take place if ionic liquids are used as solvents for electrocatalysis involving the dissolved molecular species. In this work, we carry out molecular dynamics simulations, with gold and carbon electrodes in typical ionic liquids, hydrophobic and hydrophilic, to study electrosorption of water. We investigate the effects of hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity of ionic liquids and electrodes on interfacial distribution of ions and electrosorbed water. Results reveal that using hydrophilic ionic liquids would help to keep water molecules away from the negatively charged electrodes, even at large electrode polarizations. This conclusion is supported by electrochemical cyclic voltammetry measurements on gold and carbon electrodes in contact with humid ionic liquids. Thereby, our findings suggest potential mechanisms for protection of electrodes from water electrosorption.

Date: 2018
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-07674-0

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