Investigations of ambient-temperature chloroaluminate molten salts

The objective of this project was to further characterize ambient-temperature chloroaluminate ionic liquids (melts) composed of aluminum chloride and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC). These studies can be broken down into three broad areas: properties of neutral buffered and binary melts, investigation of structure present in AlCl{dollar}sb3{dollar}:EMIC melts, and high frequency square wave voltammetry of solutes in the melts.; Within the area of melt properties of the buffered and binary melts three studies were conducted. In the first, the stoichiometry of a "latent acidity" observed in melts buffered with alkali metal chloride salts is found to be unity with respect to the alkali metal cation concentration.; The second study dealing with properties of alkali metal chloride neutral buffered and binary melts dealt with the determination of the Gutmann acceptor numbers for a series of binary and neutral buffered melts. The neutral buffered melts do not achieve the same Lewis acidity as the binary melts. The LiCl neutral buffered melt is the most Lewis acidic followed by the NaCl and finally the KCl neutral buffered melts.; The third study dealing with properties of buffered melts involved the generation of buffered melts through the addition of water. The buffering agent is an aluminum hydroxide species formed in the melt through the addition of water.; The investigation of a structure making interaction present in certain melts was conducted using rotating frame nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (ROESY). The presence of structure making interactions due to hydrogen bonding which can be present in melts is confirmed.; Two studies involving the use of square wave voltammetry of the Cu(I)/Cu(II) couple in a melt using microdisk electrodes were conducted. In the first study the electron transfer parameters are determined using normal pulse and square wave voltammetry.; The second study also used the Cu(I)/Cu(II) couple in a melt as a model system to investigate the difficulties in attempting square wave voltammetry at square wave frequencies up to 200 kHz. Potential difficulties are identified and limitations imposed by each interference are estimated.