Electroactive ferrocene-based ionic liquids: Transport and electrochemical properties of their acetonitrile solutions

The increasing global demand for energy stimulates the development of advanced energy storage and conversion technologies. Modification of electrolyte with redox-active additives is a promising way to enhance the electrochemical performance of energy storage devices. In this work new electroactive ferrocene-based ionic liquids (Fc-ILs) (N-methyl-N-(ferrocenylmethyl)piperidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [PipFcMe][NTf₂], N-methyl-N-(ferrocenylmethyl)pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [PyrFcMe][NTf₂], N-ethyl-N-(ferrocenylmethyl)pyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [PyrFcEt][NTf₂]) were synthesized. The structure of the Fc-ILs was confirmed by NMR and XRD. [PipFcMe][NTf₂] and [PyrFcMe][NTf₂] demonstrated nearly similar crystal structures consisting of cation and anion columns, while alternating cation and anion layers are stacked in the [PyrFcEt][NTf₂] crystal. The effects of the Fc-IL mole fraction and temperature on the transport properties of the acetonitrile solutions of the Fc-ILs have been established. The highest electrical conductivities of the [PipFcMe][NTf₂], [PyrFcEt][NTf₂] and [PyrFcMe][NTf₂] solutions calculated using the Casteel-Amis equation were, respectively, 38.06 ± 0.63, 40.34 ± 0.93 and 41.09 ± 0.58 mS/cm at 348.15 K. The activation energies of conductivity were calculated using the Arrhenius and Vogel-Fulcher-Tamman approaches. The Fc-ILs demonstrated a high electrochemical stability range up to 4.67 V. The introduction of electron-withdrawing substituents into the cyclopentadienyl ring of Fc-ILs shifted the half-wave potential to the positive direction. The diffusion coefficients were calculated using the Randles–Ševčík equation for a quasi-reversible process.