Vaporization enthalpies of imidazolium based ionic liquids. A thermogravimetric study of the alkyl chain length dependence

Vaporization enthalpies for a series of ten ionic liquids (ILs) 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide [Cnmim][NTf2], with the alkyl chain length n = 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 were determined using the thermogravimetric method. An internally consistent set of experimental data and vaporization enthalpies at 540 K was obtained. Vaporization enthalpies at 540 K have shown a linear dependence on the chain length of the alkyl-imidazolium cation in agreement with the experimental results measured previously with a quartz crystal microbalance. Ambiguity of ΔlgCp mo-values required for the extrapolation of experimental vaporization enthalpies to the reference temperature 298 K has been discussed.

► Enthalpies of vaporization of ionic liquids were measured with thermogravimetry.
► We studied 1-alkyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide.
► The linear alkyl chain length was 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 C-atoms.
► A linear dependence on the chain length of the alkyl-imidazolium cation was found.