The effect of cation structure on the mesophase architecture of self-assembled and polymerized imidazolium-based ionic liquids

The binary phase behavior of a series of imidazolium-based ionic liquids (ILs) has been investigated. In particular, the effect of two structural modifications of the imidazolium cation, alkyl chain length, and the introduction of a polymerizable acryloyl group at the alkyl chain terminus, has been studied using small angle X-ray scattering. Upon increasing water content, the non-polymerizable IL, 1-decyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride, adopts mesophase structures of predominately two-dimensional (2D) hexagonal symmetry, including structures intermediate in character between lamellae and 2D hexagonal micelles. Introduction of a photopolymerizable acryloyl functional group to form 1-(10-(acryloyloxy)decyl)-3-methyl-imidazoliurn chloride produces a rod-coil IL cation that yields self-assembled mesophases in which the formation of tetragonal morphologies is favored. Covalent linking of the IL cations by UV-induced polymerization converts the lyotropic mesophase into three-dimensional biocontinuous chemical gels. Reducing the alkyl chain length, as in the polymerizable IL cation 1-(8-(acryloyloxy)octyl)-3-methylimidazolium chloride, severely reduces the self-assembled mesophase order, and triggers the formation of only weakly ordered one-dimensional lamellar structures.