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DOE OSTI2023

Electronic Structure of the Complete Series of Gas-Phase Manganese Acetylacetonates by X-ray Absorption Spectroscopy

Metal centers in transition metal–ligand complexes occur in a variety of oxidation states causing their redox activity and therefore making them relevant for applications in physics and chemistry. The electronic state of these complexes can be studied by X-ray absorption spectroscopy, which is, however, due to the complex spectral signature not always straightforward. Here, we study the electronic structure of gas-phase cationic manganese acetylacetonate complexes Mn(acac) 1–3 + using X-ray absorption spectroscopy at the metal center and ligand constituents. The spectra are well reproduced by multiconfigurational wave function theory, time-dependent density functional theory as well as parameterized crystal field and charge transfer multiplet simulations. This enables us to get detailed insights into the electronic structure of ground-state Mn(acac) 1–3 + and extract empirical parameters such as crystal field strength and exchange coupling from X-ray excitation at both the metal and ligand sites. By comparison to X-ray absorption spectra of neutral, solvated Mn(acac) 2,3 complexes, we also show that the effect of coordination on the L 3 excitation energy, routinely used to identify oxidation states, can contribute about 40–50% to the observed shift, which for the current study is 1.9 eV per oxidation state.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

G 0 W 0 Ionization Potentials of First-Row Transition Metal Aqua Ions

Here, we report computations of the vertical ionization potentials within the GW approximation of the near-complete series of first-row transition metal (V–Cu) aqua ions in their most common oxidation states, i.e., V 3+ , Cr 3+ , Cr 2+ , Mn 2+ , Fe 3+ , Fe 2+ , Co 2+ , Ni 2+ , and Cu 2+ . The d-orbital occupancy of these systems spans a broad range from d 2 to d 9 . All of the structures were first optimized at the density functional theory level using a large cluster of explicit water molecules that are embedded in a continuum solvation model. Vertical ionization potentials were computed with the one-shot G 0 W 0 approach on a range of transition metal ion clusters (6, 18, 40, and 60 explicit water molecules), wherein the convergence with respect to the basis set size was evaluated using the systems with 40 water molecules. We assess the results using three different density functional approximations as starting points for the vertical ionization potential calculations, namely, G 0 W 0 @PBE, G 0 W 0 @PBE0, and G 0 W 0 @r 2 SCAN. While the predicted ground-state structures are similar to all three exchange-correlation functionals, the vertical ionization potentials were in closer agreement with experiment when using the G 0 W 0 @PBE0 and G 0 W 0 @r 2 SCAN approaches, with the r 2 SCAN-based calculations being significantly less expensive. Computed bond distances and vertical ionization potentials for all structures are in good agreement with available experimental data.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2016

Time-Domain Simulations of Transient Species in Experimentally Relevant Environments

Simulating the spectroscopic properties of short-lived thermal and photochemical reaction intermediates and products is a challenging task, as these species often feature atypical molecular and electronic structures. The complex environments in which such species typically reside in practice add further complexity to the problem. Herein, we tackle this problem in silico using ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, employing iso-CHBr3, namely H(Br)C-Br-Br, as a prototypical system. This species was chosen because it features both a non-conventional C-Br-Br bonding pattern, as well as a strong dependence of its spectral features on the local environment in which it resides, as illustrated in recent experimental reports. The spectroscopic properties of iso-CHBr3 were measured by several groups that captured this transient intermediate in the photochemistry of CHBr3 in the gas phase, in rare gas matrices at 5K, and in solution under ambient laboratory conditions. We simulate the UV-Vis and IR spectra of iso-CHBr3 in all three media, including a Ne cluster (64 atoms) and a methylcyclohexane cage (14 solvent molecules) representative of the matrix isolated and solvated species. We exclusively perform fully quantum mechanical static and dynamic simulations. By comparing our condensed phase simulations to their experimental analogues, we stress the importance of (i) conformational sampling, even at cryogenic temperatures, and (ii) using a fully quantum mechanical description of both solute and bath to properly account for the experimental observables.

Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory↗
DOE OSTI2016

Properties of Polyvinylpyrrolidone in a Deep Eutectic Solvent

Deep eutectic solvents (DES) are mixtures of two or more components with high melting temperatures, which form a liquid at room temperature. These DES hold great promise as green solvents for chemical processes, as they are inexpensive and environmentally friendly. Specifically, they present a unique solvating environment to polymers that is different from water. In this paper, we use small angle neutron scattering to study the polymer properties of the common, water-soluble, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in the prominent DES formed by a 1:2 molar mixture of choline chloride and urea. We find that the polymer adopts a slightly different structure in DES than in water, so that at higher concentrations the polymer favors a more expanded conformation compared to the same concentration in water. Yet, the osmotic pressure of PVP solutions in DES is very similar to that in water, indicating that both solvents are of comparable quality and that the DES components interact favorably with PVP. Finally, the osmotic pressure measurements within this novel class of promising solvents should be of value toward future technological applications as well as for osmotic stress experiments in nonaqueous environments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2025

From Electronic Structure to Ion Transport: Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Molecular Dynamics Simulations Reveal the Role of Anions in Lithium Battery Electrolytes

Electrolyte anions are pivotal for lithium battery performance, yet their fundamental electronic structural properties are not well understood. In this work, we employ a combination of negative-ion photoelectron spectroscopy (NIPES), ab initio calculations, and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the electronic structures of three representative electrolyte anions. This multiscale approach enables us to elucidate how their intrinsic electronic properties govern anion–solvent interactions in gas-phase clusters, as well as lithium-ion (Li + ) solvation structures and ion transport behavior in the condensed phase. NIPES reveals that difluoro(oxalato)borate (DFOB – ), bis(fluorosulfonyl)imide (FSI – ), and bis(oxalato)borate (BOB – ) all exhibit high electron binding energies, with vertical/adiabatic detachment energies increasing from DFOB – (6.09/5.70 eV) to FSI – (6.80/6.10 eV) to BOB – (6.82/6.40 eV), correlating with enhanced oxidation stability. Ab initio calculations reveal that DFOB – /FSI – –solvent complexes bind Li + ∼ 10 kcal/mol stronger than BOB – series, aligning with the strength of a Li + –anion model. DFOB – exhibits pronounced charge localization on both oxygen and fluorine atoms, enabling their involvement in Li + coordination. In contrast, fluorine atoms in FSI – are largely electron-depleted and remain excluded from direct Li + binding. MD simulations further demonstrate that LiDFOB and LiFSI systems exhibit Li + diffusion coefficients three and five times higher than those of LiBOB across four common solvents. Notably, LiFSI salt in acetonitrile (AN) exhibits the fastest Li + diffusion among 12 electrolyte systems, highlighting the synergistic effect of FSI – and AN in promoting ion mobility. In conclusion, these findings provide a molecular-level understanding of the critical roles of anion and its microsolvation in optimizing Li + diffusion dynamics, once again emphasizing the positioning of FSI – and DFOB – as prime candidates for next-generation electrolytes.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2016

Ultrafast Spectroscopic Signatures of Coherent Electron-Transfer Mechanisms in a Transition Metal Complex

The prevalence of ultrafast electron-transfer processes in light-harvesting materials has motivated a deeper understanding of coherent reaction mechanisms. Kinetic models based on the traditional (equilibrium) form of Fermi’s Golden Rule are commonly employed to understand photoinduced electron-transfer dynamics. These models fail in two ways when the electron-transfer process is fast compared to solvation dynamics and vibrational dephasing. First, electron-transfer dynamics may be accelerated if the photoexcited wavepacket traverses the point of degeneracy between donor and acceptor states in the solvent coordinate. Second, traditional kinetic models fail to describe electron-transfer transitions that yield products which undergo coherent nuclear motions. We address the second point in this work. Transient absorption spectroscopy and a numerical model are used to investigate coherent back-electron-transfer mechanisms in a transition metal complex composed of titanium and catechol, [Ti(cat) 3] 2– . The transient absorption experiments reveal coherent wavepacket motions initiated by the back-electron-transfer process. Model calculations suggest that the vibrationally coherent product states may originate in either vibrational populations or coherences of the reactant. That is, vibrational coherence may be produced even if the reactant does not undergo coherent nuclear motions. Lastly, the analysis raises a question of broader significance: can a vibrational population-to-coherence transition (i.e., a nonsecular transition) accelerate electron-transfer reactions even when the rate is slower than vibrational dephasing?

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ultrafast Electronic Relaxation through a Conical Intersection: Nonadiabatic Dynamics Disentangled through an Oscillator Strength-Based Diabatization Framework

Here, we employ surface hopping trajectories to model the short-time dynamics of gas-phase and partially solvated 4-(N,N-dimethylamino)benzonitrile (DMABN), a dual fluorescent molecule that is known to undergo a nonadiabatic transition through a conical intersection. To compare theory vs time-resolved fluorescence measurements, we calculate the mixed quantum–classical density matrix and the ensemble averaged transition dipole moment. We introduce a diabatization scheme based on the oscillator strength to convert the TDDFT adiabatic states into diabatic states of L a and L b character. Somewhat surprisingly, we find that the rate of relaxation reported by emission to the ground state is almost 50% slower than the adiabatic population relaxation. Although our calculated adiabatic rates are largely consistent with previous theoretical calculations and no obvious effects of decoherence are seen, the diabatization procedure introduced here enables an explicit picture of dynamics in the branching plane, raising tantalizing questions about geometric phase effects in systems with dozens of atoms.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

The Hydration Effect and Selectivity of Alkali Metal Ions on Poly(ethylene glycol) Models in Cyclic and Linear Topology

The results of hydration and alkali metal ion (K+, Na+, Li+) bonding to two structural variants of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG), viz., a cyclic (18-crown-6) configuration and a linear chain model with two different lengths, are studied by ab initio density functional theory calculations. A total of 24 structural models are constructed, with different conformations of the PEG chain and its molecular environment. Detailed comparisons of the results enable us to obtain conclusive evidence on the effects of the different components of the solution environment on the PEG structural variants in terms of the binding energy, partial charge distribution, solvation effect, interfacial hydrogen bonding, and cohesion between different structural units in the system composed of PEG, alkali metal ions, and water. On the basis of these comprehensive and precise comparisons, we believe that the ion–PEG interaction is strongly influenced by the presence of solvent and that the charge transfer in the PEG complex depends crucially on its topology, the type of alkali metal ion, and the solvent. The interaction between alkali metal ions in the two PEG models does not always scale with the ion size but depends on their local environment.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Helium Nanodroplet Isolation of the Cyclobutyl, 1-Methylallyl, and Allylcarbinyl Radicals: Infrared Spectroscopy and Ab Initio Computations

Gas-phase cyclobutyl radical (*C 4 H 7 ) is produced via pyrolysis of cyclobutylmethyl nitrite (C 4 H 7 (CH 2 )ONO). Other (C 4 H 7 )-C-center dot radicals, such as 1-methylallyl and allylcarbinyl, are similarly produced from nitrite precursors. Nascent radicals are promptly solvated in liquid He droplets, allowing for the acquisition of infrared spectra in the CH stretching region. For the cyclobutyl and 1-methylallyl radicals, anharmonic frequencies are predicted by VPT2+K simulations based upon a hybrid CCSD(T) force field with quadratic (cubic and quartic) force constants computed using the ANO1 (ANO0) basis set. A density functional theoretical method is used to compute the force field for the allylcarbinyl radical. For all *C 4 H 7 radicals, resonance polyads in the 2800-3000 cm -1 region appear as a result of anharmonic coupling between the CH stretching fundamentals and CH, bend overtones and combinations. Upon pyrolysis of the cyclobutylmethyl nitrite precursor to produce the cyclobutyl radical, an approximately 2-fold increase in the source temperature leads to the appearance of spectral signatures that can be assigned to 1-methylallyl and 1,3-butadiene. On the basis of a previously reported *C 4 H 7 potential energy surface, this result is interpreted as evidence for the unimolecular decomposition of the cyclobutyl radical via ring opening, prior to it being captured by helium droplets. On the *C 4 H 7 potential surface, 1,3-butadiene is formed from cyclobutyl ring opening and H atom loss, and the 1-methylallyl radical is the most energetically stable intermediate along the decomposition pathway. Here, the allylcarbinyl radical is a higher-energy (C 4 H 7 )-C-center dot intermediate along the ring-opening path, and the spectral signatures of this radical are not observed under the same conditions that produce 1-methylallyl and 1,3-butadiene from the unimolecular decomposition of cyclobutyl.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2017

Heptavalent Actinide Tetroxides NpO 4 – and PuO 4 – : Oxidation of Pu(V) to Pu(VII) by Adding an Electron to PuO 4

The highest known actinide oxidation states are Np(VII) and Pu(VII), both of which have been identified in solution and solid compounds. Recently a molecular Np(VII) complex, NpO 3 (NO 3 ) 2 -, was prepared and characterized in the gas phase. In accord with the lower stability of heptavalent Pu, no Pu(VII) molecular species has been identified. Reported here are the gas-phase syntheses and characterizations of NpO 4 - and PuO 4 - . Reactivity studies and density functional theory computations indicate the heptavalent metal oxidation state in both. This is the first instance of Pu(VII) in the absence of stabilizing effects due to condensed phase solvation or crystal fields. Here, the results indicate that addition of an electron to neutral PuO 4 , which has a computed electron affinity of 2.56 eV, counterintuitively results in oxidation of Pu(V) to Pu(VII), concomitant with superoxide reduction.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Pulse Radiolysis and Computational Studies on a Pyrrolidinium Dicyanamide Ionic Liquid: Detection of the Dimer Radical Anion

A pulse radiolysis study on pyrrolidinium cation based ionic liquids is presented here in this paper. Time-resolved absorption spectra for 1-methyl-1-propylpyrrolidinium dicyanamide (DCA) at 500 ns after the electron pulse show broad absorption bands at wavelengths below 440 nm and at 640 nm. In pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (NTf 2 ) and tris(perfluoroethyl)trifluorophosphate (FAP) ILs, the transient absorption below 440 nm is much weaker. The absorption at 500 ns, which increases with wavelength from 500 nm to beyond 800 nm, was assigned to the tail of the solvated electron NIR absorption spectrum, since it disappears in the presence of N 2 O. In the DCA IL, the presence of a reducing species was confirmed by the formation of pyrene radical anion. The difference in the transient species in the case of the DCA IL compared to other two ILs should be due to the anion, with cations being similar. In pseudohalide ILs such as DCA, radicals are formed by direct hole trapping by the anion (X – + h + → X•), followed by addition to the parent anion. Prediction of the UV/vis absorption spectra of the dimer radical anion by computational calculation supports the experimental results. The oxidizing efficiency of (DCA) 2 •– and its reduction potential (E(DCA)2•–/(2DCA–)) have been determined.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2018

Computational Study of Microhydration in Sulfonated Diels–Alder Poly(phenylene) Polymers

In this paper, the nature of microhydration in sulfonated Diels–Alder poly(phenylene) (SDAPP) polymer membranes is explored using ab initio and density functional theory (DFT) electronic structure calculations. The impact of the aromatic poly(phenylene) structure, including cooperative effects between multiple spatially adjacent sulfonic groups, on the hydration environment is addressed using a series of DFT B3LYP/6-311**-optimized structures for different SDAPP·nH 2 O clusters. In addition, larger SDAPP polymer fragments, along with selected hydrophilic domain structures extracted from molecular dynamic (MD) simulations, are also evaluated using ONIOM HF/PM6 semiempirical calculations. The SDAPP clusters reveal that spontaneous proton dissociation occurs at low levels of hydration to form sulfonic-acid-associated H 3 O + contact ion pairs (CIPs), which then evolve into solvated CIPs at higher hydration levels. For multiple sulfonic acid groups located on the poly(phenylene) side chains, the hydration energies are a function of the relative acid location and backbone configuration. Variations in the phenylene backbone torsional angles allow remote sulfonic acids to adopt an optimal separation to produce an extended hydrogen bonded network of waters between the SDAPP acids groups. Finally, these calculations provide a baseline to help describe the proton transport and hydration behavior of SDAPP membranes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2019

Organic Enrichment at Aqueous Interfaces: Cooperative Adsorption of Glucuronic Acid to DPPC Monolayers Studied with Vibrational Sum Frequency Generation

Surface tension, surface-specific vibrational spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry measurements were all used to test cooperative adsorption of glucuronic acid (GU) to DPPC monolayers adsorbed to the aqueous/vapor interface. Experiments were performed using GU solutions prepared in Millipore water and in carbonate/bicarbonate solutions buffered to a pH of 9.0. The effects of GU on DPPC monolayer structure and organization were carried out with tightly packed monolayers (40 Å2/DPPC) and monolayers in their liquid condensed phase (55 Å2/molecule). Surface tension data show that GU concentrations of 50 mM lead to expanded DPPC monolayers with diminished surface tensions (or higher surface pressures) at a given DPPC coverage relative to monolayers on pure water. With unbuffered solutions, GU induces significant ordering within liquid condensed monolayers although the effects of GU on tightly packed DPPC monolayers are less pronounced. GU also induces a second, higher melting temperature in DPPC vesicles implying that GU (at sufficiently high concentrations) strengthens lipid-lipid cohesion, possibly by replacing water solvating the DPPC headgroups. Together, these observations all support a cooperative adsorption mechanism. In buffer solutions, the effects of dissolved GU on DPPC structure and organization are muted. Only at sufficiently high GU concentrations (when the solution’s buffering capacity has been exceeded) do the data again show evidence of cooperative adsorption. These findings place limits on cooperative adsorption’s ability to enrich interfacial organic content in alkaline environmental systems such as oceans.

Link, Katie A.↗
DOE OSTI2019

Energy Decomposition Analysis for Interactions of Radicals: Theory and Implementation at the MP2 Level with Application to Hydration of Halogenated Benzene Cations and Complexes between CO 2 -· and Pyridine and Imidazole

To study intermolecular interactions involving radicals at the correlated level, the energy decomposition analysis scheme for second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory based on absolutely localized molecular orbitals (ALMO-MP2-EDA) is generalized to unrestricted and restricted open-shell MP2. The benefit of restricted open-shell MP2 is that it can provide accurate binding energies for radical complexes where density functional theory can be error-prone due to delocalization errors. As a model application, the open-shell ALMO-MP2-EDA is applied to study the first solvation step of halogenated benzene radical cations, where both halogen- and hydrogen-bonded isomers are possible. We determine that the lighter halogens favor the hydrogen-bonded form, while the iodine-substituted species prefers halogen bonding due to larger polarizability and charge transfer at the halogen. As a second application, relevant to the activation of CO 2 in photoelectrocatalysis, complexes of CO 2 -· interacting with both pyridine and imidazole are analyzed with ALMO-MP2-EDA. The results reveal the importance of charge transfer into the π* orbital of the heterocycle in controlling the stability of the carbamate binding mode, which is favored for pyridine but not for imidazole.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Reaction Energetics and 13 C Fractionation of Alanine Transamination in the Aqueous and Gas Phases

The alanine transaminase enzyme catalyzes the transfer of an amino group from alanine to α-ketoglutarate to produce pyruvate and glutamate. Isotope fractionation factors (IFFs) for the reaction +H 3 NCH(CH 3 )COO – + – OOCCH 2 CH 2 C(O)COO – ↔ CH 3 C(O)COO – + + H 3 NCH(CH 2 CH 2 COO – )COO – (zwitterionic neutral alanine + doubly deprotonated α-ketoglutarate ↔ pyruvate + zwitterionic glutamate anion) were calculated from the partition functions of explicitly and implicitly solvated molecules at 298 K. Calculations were done for alanine (noncharge separated, zwitterion, deprotonated), pyruvic acid (neutral, deprotonated), glutamic acid (noncharge separated, zwitterion, deprotonated, doubly deprotonated), and α-ketoglutaric acid (neutral, deprotonated, doubly deprotonated). The computational results, calculated from gas phase- and aqueous-optimized clusters with explicit H 2 O molecules at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ and MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ/COSMO levels, respectively, predict that substitution of 13 C at the C2 position of alanine and pyruvic acid and their various forms leads to the C2 position of pyruvic acid/pyruvate being enriched in 13 C/ 12 C ratio by 9‰. Simpler approaches that estimate the IFFs based solely on changes in the zero-point energies (ZPEs) are consistent with the higher-level model. ZPE-based IFFs calculated for simple analogues formaldehyde and methylamine (analogous to the C2 positions of pyruvate and alanine, respectively) predict a 13 C enrichment in formaldehyde of 7–8‰ at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ and aug-cc-pVTZ levels. A simple predictive model using canonical functional group frequencies and reduced masses for 13 C exchange between R 2 C=O and R 2 CH–NH 2 predicted enrichment in R 2 C=O that is too large by a factor of two but is qualitatively accurate compared with the more sophisticated models. Our models are all in agreement with the expectation that pyruvate and formaldehyde will be preferentially enriched in 13 C because of the strength of their >C=O bond relative to that of ≡C–NH 2 in alanine and methylamine. 13 C/ 12 C substitution is also modeled at the methyl and carboxylic acid sites of alanine and pyruvic acid, respectively.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Liquid Structure and Transport Properties of the Deep Eutectic Solvent Ethaline

A range of techniques including physical property measurements, neutron scattering experiments, ab initio molecular dynamics, and classical molecular dynamics simulations are used to probe the structural, thermodynamic, and transport properties of a deep eutectic solvent comprised of a 1:2 molar ratio of choline chloride and ethylene glycol. This mixture, known as Ethaline, has many desirable properties for use in a range of applications, and therefore, understanding its liquid structure and transport properties is of interest. Simulation results are able to capture experimental densities, diffusivities, viscosities, and structure factors extremely well. Here, the solvation environment is dynamic and dominated by different hydrogen bonding interactions. Dynamic heterogeneities resulting from hydrogen bonding interactions are quantified. Rotational dynamics of molecular dipole moments of choline and ethylene glycol are computed and found to exhibit a fast and slow mode.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗
DOE OSTI2020

Extracting the Frequency-Dependent Dynamic Stokes Shift from Two-Dimensional Electronic Spectra with Prominent Vibrational Coherences

The dynamic Stokes shift is a common means for characterizing ultrafast solvation dynamics of electronically excited states. Here we extract the excitation frequency-dependent dynamic Stokes shift from two-dimensional electronic spectra (2DES) of cresyl violet, a molecule with a well-defined vibronic progression. The extracted dynamic Stokes shift function, S(t), exhibits oscillatory behavior, and the oscillatory components are assigned to intramolecular vibrational modes through DFT and TD-DFT calculations. Here, the well-characterized oscillations are incorporated into the fitting procedure of S(t). The excitation frequency dependence of the ultrafast response is examined through the analysis of S(t) obtained from slices taken at different excitation frequencies of the 2DES spectra. The extracted ultrafast timescales range from 36 to 98 fs, and we interpret the frequency dependence of the timescales in the context of other dynamic processes that also lead to lineshape changes in the 2DES spectrum, such as vibrational energy relaxation and spectral diffusion. Through comparison of the extracted timescales, we find that the fastest timescales are extracted over a range of excitation frequencies, where contributions from vibrational relaxation and spectral diffusion can be minimized.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2021

Screening Ionic Liquids Based on Ionic Volume and Electrostatic Potential Analyses

Ionic liquids are known to have tunable solvation properties, based on the pairing of different anions and cations, but the compositional landscape is vast and challenging to navigate efficiently. Some computational screening protocols are available, but they can be either time-consuming or difficult to implement. Herein, we perform a detailed investigation of the fundamental role of electrostatic interactions in these systems. We effectively develop a bridge between the previous volume-based approach (VBA) with a quantum structure–property relationship (QSPR) approach to create fast, simple screening guidelines. We propose a new parameter that is applicable to both monovalent and multivalent ions, the ionic polarity index (IPI), which is defined as the ratio of the average electrostatic surface potential ($\bar{V}$) of the ion to the net charge of the ion (q). The IPI correlation has been tested on a diverse dataset of 121 ions and reliable predictions can be obtained within a homologous series of ionic liquid compounds.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗