Conductivity Studies of Imidazolium- Based Ionic Liquids in Aqueous Solution

Abstract

The conductivity of aqueous solutions of nine types of imidazolium-based ionic liquids [ILs] has been studied by analyzing the influence of the length of the hydrocarbon chain attached to the imidazolium ring (ethyl, methyl, hexyl, and dodecyl), the anion nature (Cl^-, BF₄^- and FeCl₄^-) and the solution concentration. It was determined that the concentration increase of up to 40% IL, for all types of ILs in water, led to the solution conductivity increase after this, the aggregation phenomenon becomes dominating leading to the solution conductivity decrease. The longer the side chain is, the lower conductivity is. The major influence on the ILs solutions conductivity is that of the cation nature while that of the anion is negligible.