Mass spectrometric analysis of imidazolium-based ionic liquids by scanning atom probe

Scanning atom probe was used for studying several imidazolium-based ionic liquids of the form [R][Tf2N], where [R] can be one of the three cations—[emim], [bmim] and [hmim]. High voltage pulsing caused the formation of the product ions via cations and anion decomposition. Laser pulsing (photon-assisted field evaporation) allowed generating the intact cation ions along with cluster ions composed of cations and fragments of anion.