Self-diffusion of ethylammonium nitrate ionic liquid confined between modified polar glasses

Ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) ionic liquid confined between flat polar glass plates demonstrates variable diffusivity that is sensitive to an external static magnetic field. Outside the magnetic field, diffusivity between the plates is higher than that in the bulk. However, after placing the system in a strong static magnetic field, the diffusivity gradually decreased. These processes occur during transformations between phases formed in EAN subjected to micrometer-size restrictions outside and within the magnetic field (Filippov et al., J. Mol. Liq. [2018] 268, 49). In this study, we used samples of two types: (i) with roughened surface formed by treatment of the glass plates with aqueous solutions of hydrofluoric acid and (ii) with vacuum deposited TiO2 layers with a thickness of ca. 1 μm at glass-plate edges. Neither the surface modification of the glass plates, nor the TiO2 layers controlled thickness of EAN confined between glass-plates significantly changed the above-described effects, which have been observed in studies using untreated glass plates. Therefore, the range of systems with detected phase transformations in EAN and accompanying effects, such as accelerated diffusivity and change in diffusivity under the influence of a static magnetic field, was expanded to the systems with roughened surfaces and the systems with TiO2 layers controlled inter-plates distances. Results of experiments with roughened surfaces additionally suggested that the phase transformation of confined EAN in the external magnetic field is isotropic in nature rather than a phase transition from “layered to bulk” structures.