Room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) represent a promising class of compounds that can address several societal challenges in a sustainable way. Being composed solely by ionic species they show negligible vapour pressure and appealing chemical-physical properties.
In the last few years much attention has been dedicated to binary mixtures of RTILs with other either ionic or molecular liquids (ML) that offer the possibility of further modulating bulk properties, thus better addressing the "designer solvent" concept.
In parallel with this opportunity, the presence of an additional compound introduces a variety of unexpected structural and dynamic features, whose exploitation can dramatically enhance the final performance, when properly mastered and understood.
Emerging evidences exist that addition of a ML can lead to complex microscopic as well as mesoscopic re-organizations that eventually affect the bulk behaviour and pave the way to novel, unexpected applications.
In this Large Research Project we propose to use an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to explore the effect of addition of selected MLs to RTILs on structural and dynamic properties at micro- and meso-scopic level and their influence over macroscopic performances. The synergic exploitation of experimental (x-ray/neutron diffraction, Raman/IR/NMR spectroscopy, rheology and synthesis of specific compounds) and computational tools will guarantee a robust understanding of complex, so far largely unexplored, phenomenologies, providing the knowledge tools necessary to lead to the foreseeing of smart performances of new designer solvents. The proposing team has well-established reputation in the exploitation of the different techniques for such a task that guarantees the success of the proposed research plan.
