Heterogeneous dynamics of ionic liquids from molecular dynamics simulations

Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed to study the complex and heterogeneous dynamics of ions in ionic liquids. The dynamics of cations and anions in 1-ethyl-3-methyl imidazolium nitrate (EMIM-NO3) are characterized by van Hove functions and the corresponding intermediate scattering functions F-s(k,t) and elucidated by the trajectories augmented by the use of singular spectrum analysis (SSA). Several time regions are found in the mean squared displacement of the ions. Change in the slope in a plot of the diffusion coefficient against temperature is found at around 410 K in the simulation. Heterogeneous dynamics with the presence of both localized ions and fast ions capable of successive jumps were observed at long time scales in the self-part of the van Hove functions and in the trajectories. Non-Gaussian dynamics are evidenced by the self-part of the van Hove functions and wave number dependence of F-s(k,t) and characterized as Levy flights. Successive motion of some ions can continue even after several nanoseconds at 370 K, which is longer than the onset time of diffusive motion, t(dif). Structure of the long time dynamics of fast ions is clarified by the phase space plot of the successive motion using the denoised data by SSA. The continual dynamics are shown to have a long term memory, and therefore local structure is not enough to explain the heterogeneity. The motion connecting localized regions at about 370 K is jumplike, but there is no typical one due to local structural changes during jump motion. With the local motion, mutual diffusion between cation and anion occurs. On decreasing temperature, mutual diffusion is suppressed, which results in slowing down of the dynamics. This "mixing effect of cation and anion" is compared with the "mixed alkali effect" found in the ionics in the ionically conducting glasses, where the interception of paths by different alkali metal ions causes the large reduction in the dynamics [J. Habasaki and K. L. Ngai, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 9, 4673 (2007), and references herein]. Although a similar mechanism of the slowing down is observed, strong coupling of the motion of cation and anion prevents complete interception unless deeply supercooled, and this explains the wide temperature region of the existence of the liquid and supercooled liquid states in the ionic liquid.