Effect of small cation addition on the conductivity of quaternary ammonium ionic liquids

Several quaternary ammonium or lithium bis(trifluoromethane sulfone) imide (TFSI) salts were dissolved into N,N,N,N-hexyltrimethyl ammonium TFSI ionic liquid, and the conductivities of the resulting solutions were measured. Some asymmetric quaternary ammonium salts contributed to increase the conductivity of the solution, while cyano-containing quaternary ammonium and lithium salts decreased the conductivity. Based on the results of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements, such conductivity behaviors appeared to be related to the intrinsic miscibility of the ionic liquid solutions.