Thermal Conductivity of Ionic Liquids: Measurement and Prediction

This study reports thermal-conductivity data for a series of [EMIM] (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium)-based ionic liquids (ILs) having the anions [NTf₂] (bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide), [OAc] (acetate), [N(CN)₂] (dicyanimide), [C(CN)₃] (tricyanomethide), [MeOHPO₂] (methylphosphonate), [EtSO₄] (ethylsulfate), or [OcSO₄] (octylsulfate), and in addition for ILs with the [NTf₂]-anion having the cations [HMIM] (1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium), [OMA] (methyltrioctylammonium), or [BBIM] (1,3-dibutylimidazolium). Measurements were performed in the temperature range between (273.15 and 333.15) K by a stationary guarded parallel-plate instrument with a total measurement uncertainty of 3 % (k = 2). For all ILs, the temperature dependence of the thermal conductivity can well be represented by a linear equation. While for the [NTf₂]-based ILs, a slight increase of the thermal conductivity with increasing molar mass of the cation is found at a given temperature, the [EMIM]-based ILs show a pronounced, approximately linear decrease with increasing molar mass of the different probed anions. Based on the experimental data obtained in this study, a simple relationship between the thermal conductivity, molar mass, and density is proposed for the prediction of the thermal-conductivity data of ILs. For this, also densities were measured for [EMIM][OAc], [EMIM][C(CN)₃], and [HMIM][NTf₂]. The mean absolute percentage deviation of all thermal-conductivity data for ILs found in the literature from the proposed prediction is about 7 %. This result represents a convenient simplification in the acquisition of thermal conductivity information for the enormous amount of structurally different IL cation/anion combinations available.