title: Investigation of confined ionic liquid in nanostructured materials by a combination of SANS, contrast-matching SANS, and nitrogen adsorption.
abstract: Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), contrast-matching SANS, and nitrogen adsorption have been utilized to investigate the confined ionic liquid (IL) [bmim][PF(6)] phase in ordered mesoporous silica MCM-41 and SBA-15. The results suggest that the pores of SBA-15 are completely filled with IL whereas a small fraction of the pore volume, the pore "core", of MCM-41 is empty. The contrast-matching SANS measurements confirm the enhanced solubility of water in IL. In addition, they provide strong evidence that water does not enter the empty pore core of MCM-41, possibly because of the preferred orientation of the IL molecules in the adsorbed layer.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Physical Chemistry, NCSR Demokritos, 15310 Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, Athens, Greece. stefan@chem.demokritos.gr
authors.forename: Konstantinos L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Stefanopoulos
authors.forename: George E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Romanos
authors.forename: Olga C
authors.initials: OC
authors.lastname: Vangeli
authors.forename: Konstantina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mergia
authors.forename: Nick K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: Kanellopoulos
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Koutsioubas
authors.forename: Didier
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lairez