title: Theory of Phase Separation and Polarization for Pure Ionic Liquids.
abstract: Room temperature ionic liquids are attractive to numerous applications and particularly, to renewable energy devices. As solvent free electrolytes, they demonstrate a paramount connection between the material morphology and Coulombic interactions: the electrode/RTIL interface is believed to be a product of both polarization and spatiotemporal bulk properties. Yet, theoretical studies have dealt almost exclusively with independent models of morphology and electrokinetics. Introduction of a distinct Cahn-Hilliard-Poisson type mean-field framework for pure molten salts (i.e., in the absence of any neutral component), allows a systematic coupling between morphological evolution and the electrokinetic phenomena, such as transient currents. Specifically, linear analysis shows that spatially periodic patterns form via a finite wavenumber instability and numerical simulations demonstrate that while labyrinthine type patterns develop in the bulk, lamellar structures are favored near charged surfaces. The results demonstrate a qualitative phenomenology that is observed empirically and thus, provide a physically consistent methodology to incorporate phase separation properties into an electrochemical framework.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, Technion - IIT , Haifa, 3200003, Israel.
authors.forename: Nir
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Gavish
authors.affiliation: Department of Solar Energy and Environmental Physics, Swiss Institute for Dryland Environmental and Energy Research, Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research (BIDR), Ben-Gurion University of the Negev , Sede Boqer Campus, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, 84990, Israel.
authors.forename: Arik
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yochelis