Dense ionic fluids Faraday Discussion

Introduction

Welcome

Join us in London in July 2024 for this addition to our Faraday Discussion series. With over a century of history and more than 300 meetings, Faraday Discussions have been at the forefront of the physical sciences and many Discussions have become landmark meetings in their field. The unique format of the Faraday Discussions allows for in-depth discussions and opportunities to establish new collaborations.

This meeting is for established and early-career scientists, postgraduate students and industrial researchers working on various aspects of dense ionic fluids. It will provide an ideal forum for cross-fertilisation of ideas and understanding between the distinct but adjacent communities working with different classes of dense ionic fluids and their different applications.

On behalf of the organising committee, we look forward to welcoming you to London.

Tom Welton
Chair

Why attend?

Find out more about Faraday Discussions in the video and FAQ – see useful links on the right.

A unique conference format that prioritises discussion
At a Faraday Discussion, the primary research papers written by the speakers are distributed to all participants before the meeting – ensuring that most of the meeting is devoted to discussing the latest research.

This provides a genuinely collaborative environment, where discussion and debate are at the foreground. All delegates, not just speakers, are invited to make comments, ask questions, or present complementary or contradictory measurements and calculations.

An exciting programme of talks – and more
Take part in a well-balanced mix of talks, discussion, poster sessions and informal networking, delivered by our expert events team. You can explore the full programme in the downloadable files on the right – whether you’re attending in-person or online, every minute provides an opportunity.

The conference dinner, included in the registration fee, contains the Marlow Cup ceremony: a unique commemoration of past Faraday Discussion organisers that is sure to encourage further discussions over dinner.

In-depth discussion with leaders in the field
World-leading and established researchers connect with each other and early-career scientists and postgraduate students to discuss the latest research and drive science forwards. It’s a unique atmosphere – and challenging others to get to the heart of the problem is encouraged!

Your contributions, published and citable
A citable record of the discussion is published in the Faraday Discussions journal, alongside the research papers. Questions, comments and remarks become a valuable part of the published scientific conversation, and every delegate can make a major contribution.

Discover London
The Discussion will take place at Burlington House, Piccadilly, in the centre of London and its historic attractions. Step out to explore the capital city while you’re here – or stay a few extra days to explore the city further and the surrounding area.

Themes

The meeting will comprise the following four interrelated themes:

Structure and dynamics in dense ionic fluids
Dense ionic fluids known to be richly structured at the nanoscale, with features including short-range oscillations in cation and anion density, and solvophobic-driven assembly of nanostructures such as lamellar, sponge and bicontinuous phases. Nanostructure in pure ionic liquids has been well studied, however much less well understood is structure in ionic fluids with additional components e.g. neutral (polar or non-polar) solvent, or mixtures of ionic components, or oligomeric species. This is highly relevant for the understanding of many dense ionic fluids, including deep eutectic solvents, solvent-in-salt electrolytes, eutectic salt mixtures, and physiological mixtures of salts and osmolytes in water. Connected to this nanostructural complexity is strong variation in the dynamic properties of ionic fluids. Simulations have revealed that molecular and ionic species can experience many orders of magnitude difference in local relaxation times and thus diffusion coefficients are dramatically different for different species. Relaxation of structures in response to changes to electric field, mechanical stress, and other perturbations are important and not yet well charted. This session will focus on these new directions of structure and dynamics in dens ionic fluids, and the links between them.

Ionic fluids at equilibrium: thermodynamics, nanostructure, phase behaviour, activity
Dense ionic fluids are hard to describe thermodynamically, due to the complex nature of their equilibrium structure (nanostructure), difficulty in modelling free energy in dense Coulomb systems, and relative paucity of high quality experimental measurements of colligative/thermodynamic properties. Phase behaviour is often complex due to nanoscale
phase segregation, intermediate-range order, and glass formation. Multiple dynamic timescales in dense ionic fluids mean that many electrochemical techniques and dielectric spectroscopy remain challenging. Key challenges addressed in this session are the interpretation of activity coefficients (i.e. understanding non-ideality and excess free energy) in dense ionic fluids; the discussion of macroscopic or microscopic liquid-liquid phase segregation in dense ionic fluids; the concepts of ‘solvent’ and ‘ion’ in systems with long-lived ion-molecule coordination; eutectic behaviour and the definition of ‘deep eutectic solvents’. Points of discussion will include phase equilibria involving dense ionic liquids; activity coefficients in dense ionic fluids (including water activity for aqueous mixtures) and their molecular origin; nanostructure in dense ionic fluids including non-uniformity (nano-scale phase separation) and self-assembly.

Ionic fluids out of equilibrium: electrodeposition, dissolution, electron transfer, driving forces
The non-equilibrium behaviour of ionic fluid is crucial in many contexts, from electrochemical applications to energy harvesting, storage and conversion, or complex transport processes in bulk and confined colloidal or biological suspensions (see also Session 4). The response of dense ionic fluids to electric or magnetic fields, to mechanical perturbations or to concentration and temperature gradients is richer than that of dilute electrolytes and remains a great challenge on both the experimental and theoretical sides, in particular because transport processes are strongly coupled in these systems. Additional complexity arises from the reactivity of these fluids under electrochemical conditions, with electron transfers and dissolution/precipitation coupled to the transport of reactant and products. Addressing these issues at the interface between fundamental physics and chemistry would open the way to key progress in engineering applications.
Points of discussion will include how to describe collective and specific effects (beyond ideal and mean-field electrostatic theories) e.g. on the conductivity, rheology or diffusio- and thermo-osmotic/phoretic response of dense ionic fluids. We will also discuss how to characterize and understand the formation of the solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) on electrodes, which plays a crucial role in batteries. Electrodissolution results in high local metal ion concentrations exacerbated by high solution viscosity and variations in local pH can also bring about precipitation in the double layer. Diffusion of counterions to the electrode surface can also result in uncharged and insoluble compounds. Slow diffusion of ligands away from the electrode during electrodeposition can result in changes in local Lewis basicity resulting in speciation changes. Of particular interest is the relation between speciation and redox properties.

Interfaces and particles in dense ionic fluids: biological and colloidal systems spanning multiple lengthscales
Many functions and applications of dense ionic fluids involve their interfaces with particles; either colloidal or biological, and spanning scales from nanometres to micrometres. The perturbation of liquid structure and properties caused by the presence of the particle/interface will determine properties of the whole system, e.g. particle-particle interaction potentials, protein structure and interactions, oligomer and polymer structure. While this interplay is well understood in dilute electrolytes – for example the electrical double layer formed at charged colloid interfaces – it is less studied and understood for dense ionic fluids.
In this session we will open discussion of these topics with a wide scope: we hope to attract speakers covering inorganic and biological systems, multiple lengthscales, theory and experiment. Key challenges in the field include the role of solvation and liquid structure on protein interactions in halophilic environments; disjoining pressure between particles in multi-valent and asymmetric electrolytes; colloidal stability and colloidal crystallisation in dense ionic fluids.

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Downloads

Speakers

Claudio Margulis (Introductory lecture), University of Iowa, United States

Claudio J. Margulis is a Professor of 91AV at the University of Iowa. His undergraduate degree is from Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) where he did research on ions in steam, his Ph.D. is from Boston University (Boston, USA) where he worked on non-adiabatic quantum dynamics, and his postdoctoral work is from Columbia University (New York City, USA) where he worked on multiple different areas including the hydrophobic effect, quantum excited states, and commenced his work on ionic liquids. He was an NSF CAREER Award recipient and is a Kavli Fellow since 2003. Research in the Margulis group is theoretical and computational, although students may venture out and also perform some experiments. The focus of his group’s work through the years has been on the statistical and quantum mechanics of liquids, with an emphasis on ionic liquids and molten salts. Specifically, they work on the structure and structural dynamics of ionic systems in the condensed phase, including the interpretation of scattering and spectroscopy experiments.

Rob Atkin (Closing remarks lecture), University of Western Australia, Australia

Rob Atkin is a Professor of 91AV at the University of Western Australia (UWA). He obtained his PhD from the University of Newcastle (Australia) in 2003 and then completed a post doc at Bristol University (UK). In 2005 Rob was awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Sydney. He returned to Newcastle in 2007 as a University of Newcastle Research Fellow, was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship in 2012, and promoted to Professor in 2015. In 2017 Rob moved to his current role at UWA. Rob has >200 career publications which have attracted >16000 citations. His research interests include ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents, liquid nanostructure in the bulk and at electrodes, surfactant and polymer adsorption, Stern layer structures and locally concentrated ionic liquid electrolytes. Rob makes extensive use of facilities in the UWA Centre for microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis (including video rate atomic force microscopy) and external radiation scattering facilities such as ANSTO and the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.

Margarida Costa-Gomes, CNRS / ENS Lyon, France

Margarida Costa Gomes obtained her Chemical Engineering degree and her PhD in
Experimental Thermodynamics in Lisbon, Portugal. She was a research associate at
Imperial College in London and a post-doctoral fellow at the Blaise Pascal University
in France before joining the CNRS in 1998 and becoming a CNRS Research Professor in 2010. She was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2003 and in 2004 she passed her Habilitation. Margarida was an invited researcher in 2008 at the Institute of Chemical and Biological Technology, Portugal and in 2014-15 she was a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, where she maintained a position as research affiliate until 2020. Her interests concern the physical chemistry of liquids and solutions containing ionic species and the molecular and experimental thermodynamics of fluid phases, her research concerning chemistry, engineering and environmental aspects. She is driven by challenging scientific questions at the intersection of these fields, especially where they have relevance to societal outcomes or to innovative applications.

Karen Edler, Lund University, Sweden

Prof Karen Edler is Professor of Materials 91AV in the 91AV Department at Lund University, Sweden. Previously, she was Professor of Soft Matter and Associate Dean (Research) for the Science Faculty at the University of Bath. Edler worked at Bath in the Department of 91AV since 1999, first as a postdoc, then a Dorothy Hodgkin Royal Society Research Fellow (2000-2004). In 2014 she was appointed as the first female professor in 91AV at Bath. She moved to Lund in May 2022.
Prof Edler’s research focuses on understanding formation of sustainable functional hierarchically structured materials. This includes characterisation of solutes and self-assembly of amphiphiles in novel deep eutectic solvents, growth of inorganic nanoparticles in these new mixtures, novel biodegradable surfactant synthesis, sustainable Pickering emulsions and thickeners for aqueous formulations and nanodiscs for membrane protein & drug encapsulation. Her group uses self-assembly, driven by interactions between nanoscopic species (micelles, nanoparticles, polymers) in solution and at interfaces to form hierarchically ordered materials with structures from nm to cm. Understanding interactions between surfaces, nanoparticles and other species is central to control over structure and thus function. Time-resolved X-ray & neutron reflectivity, liquid diffraction and small angle scattering are used to study interactions & final structures, and a range of other complementary techniques are applied to determine formation mechanisms and structures across many length scales. Extensive collaborations with other groups in industry and academia apply the novel materials synthesised in her group to applications from photocatalysis, to drug delivery and “green” gels/emulsions.

Photograph taken by Kennet Ruona

Kateryna Goloviznina, Sorbonne University, France

Kateryna Goloviznina is a post-doctoral researcher from the PHENIX laboratory, Sorbonne University. She obtained her Master degrees in V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (Ukraine) and the University of Lille (France) in 2018. Three years later, in the ENS Lyon (France), she defended her PhD thesis on the development of advanced molecular interaction models with explicit polarisation effects applied to ionic liquids, deep eutectic solvents, and electrolytes. Currently, she focuses her research on solvation effects in ionic fluids and works on the rational design of electrolytes for batteries and supercapacitors.

Alexis Grimaud, Boston College, United States

Dr. Alexis Grimaud received his PhD from the University of Bordeaux in 2011 and is currently an associate professor in the chemistry department at Boston College. Prior to that position, he served as CNRS Researcher from 2014 to 2022 at the Collège de France, Paris, France. Dr. His research efforts focus on understanding complex interfacial processes at the heart of electrochemical systems, including water electrolyzers and Li-ion batteries, for which he is developing and studying novel liquid electrolytes with tailored reactivity that he is using to allow intercalation into novel classes of materials. Dr. Grimaud’s achievements were recognized by the French Young Researcher award as well as the Young Researcher award from the Energy Division of the French Chemical Society.

Monika Schönhoff, University of Münster, Germany

Monika Schönhoff is a full professor for Polymers and Nanostructures at the Institute of Physical 91AV at Münster University, Germany. She studied Physics at the University of Hannover and received her PhD at the University of Mainz in 1994 working on ultrathin organic films. As a postdoctoral researcher at University of Lund, Sweden, she turned to applying NMR methods to study colloidal systems and thin layers and consecutively built up an own research group at the Max-Planck-Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam, Germany, from 1998. At the University of Münster, Germany, she was appointed as associate professor of Technical Physical 91AV in 2003, and became full professor of Polymers and Nanostructures in 2011. Her research interests include self-assembled materials, functional polymers and porous materials as well as electrolyte materials, including ionic liquids, polymer electrolytes and gel electrolytes. Her main interest is to study transport and dynamics of ions or other molecular entities in order to elucidate molecular processes in functional materials. To achieve this, her group is relying on NMR transport experiments, including multinuclear diffusion, spin relaxation and in particular electrophoretic NMR.

Yuki Yamada, University of Osaka, Japan

Yuki Yamada is currently a full professor at SANKEN, Osaka University in Japan. He majored electrochemistry and received his PhD from Kyoto University in 2010. The same year he moved to the University of Tokyo as an assistant professor and was promoted to a lecturer in 2018 and an associate professor in 2020. In 2021, he moved to SANKEN, Osaka University as a full professor. His current research interests focus on the development of new battery materials and reactions.

Jean-François Dufrêche University of Montpelier, France
Joshua Sangoro Ohio State University, United States

Abstract Submission

Oral abstracts

Oral abstract submission is now closed.
Submit an oral/paper abstract if you wish to be considered for an oral presentation and associated published paper. A full research paper containing new unpublished results always accompanies oral presentations at Faraday Discussions. The oral/paper abstract should outline current research in progress. Authors of the selected abstracts must then submit a full research paper with a significant amount of new, unpublished work, by 19 February 2024.

The research papers are reviewed upon submission and are sent to all delegates 4 weeks before the meeting so they can be read in advance. At the meeting the presenting author is allowed five minutes to highlight the main points of their paper, and the rest of the time is for discussion. The discussion is recorded and will be published alongside the research paper in the Faraday Discussion Volume.

Poster abstracts

Poster abstract submission is now closed.
Posters are displayed throughout the meeting and a poster session is held on the first evening. Poster prize(s) will be awarded to the best poster(s) presented at the conference.

Additional information

All oral and poster abstracts will be reviewed by the committee. Authors will be notified of the outcome of the review process within about 6 weeks of the submission deadline. The abstracts should be no longer than one A4 page in portrait layout. Please ensure you provide the details of the presenting author and indicate whether you are submitting an abstract for oral or poster presentation.

Deadlines

Registration

In-person registration includes:

Attendance at all scientific sessions
Attendance at the poster session
Refreshments throughout the meeting and lunch on all three days
Attendance at the poster drinks reception on 8 July
Attendance at the conference dinner on 9 July
Access to all journal paper pdf “pre-prints” before the meeting
Access to recordings of all scientific sessions post-event
For full paying delegates, a copy of the Faraday Discussion journal volume, issued approximately 5 months after the meeting, containing all papers presented at the meeting and accompanying discussion comments. Student delegates may purchase a copy of the volume at less than half price, during the registration process or on site at the meeting.

Please note accommodation is not included in the registration fee.

All prices quoted do not include VAT, which is added during registration at the prevailing rate in the UK

	Early bird	Standard
RSC member	£415+Vat	£465+Vat
Non-member	£530+Vat	£580+Vat
Student RSC member	£205+Vat	£255+Vat
Student non-member	£255+Vat	£305+Vat
Accompanying person	£125+Vat	£125+Vat

Virtual registration includes:

Live access to all scientific sessions
Access to all journal paper pdf “pre-prints” before the meeting
Access to recordings of all scientific sessions post-event

All prices quoted do not include VAT, which is added during registration at the prevailing rate in the UK

	Standard
RSC member	£130+Vat
Non-member	£155+Vat
Student RSC member	£70+Vat
Student non-member	£95+Vat

A copy of the Faraday Discussion journal volume containing papers presented at the Discussion (issued approximately 5 months after the meeting) is not included in the virtual registration fee. Delegates may purchase a copy of the volume at less than half price, during the registration process or on site at the meeting.

RSC members and student RSC members

If you are a 91AV member and wish to register for this meeting, please select the member option on the online registration page. You will need to enter your membership number.

Non-member and student non-members

For non-member registrants, affiliate membership of the 91AV until the end of 2024 is available. The affiliate membership application will be processed and commence once the registrant has attended the event.

Student delegates

In order to encourage undergraduate or postgraduate students to attend the Discussion, a reduced conference fee is available for students. This fee applies to those undertaking a full-time course for a recognised degree or a diploma at a university or equivalent institution.

A copy of the Faraday Discussion journal volume containing papers presented at the Discussion (issued approximately 5 months after the meeting) is not included in the student registration fee. Students may purchase a copy of the volume at less than half price, during the registration process or on site at the meeting.

Accompanying person

If you would like to bring a guest to the conference, this can be done during the registration process. There will be an additional charge, which will include all lunches, refreshments and the conference dinner. The fee does not include attendance at any scientific sessions, journal paper pre-prints or the journal volume.

Accessibility

The 91AV is keen to encourage and enable as many people as possible to attend our events, to benefit from the networking opportunities and the chance to hear talks from leaders in the field. If you would like to discuss accessibility, or have childcare, caring responsibilities or other care needs, please contact us to discuss your requirements so that we can enable your attendance. Please refer also to our Grants for carers fund; for more information please see the ‘bursaries’ section on this page.

Terms and Conditions for Events run by the 91AV

Deadlines

Bursaries

Grants for carers

With our Grants for carers, you can apply for up to £1,200 per year to help you attend a chemistry-related meeting, conference or workshop or a professional development event. This money would be used to cover any additional costs you incur, paying for care that you usually provide. Please visit the website for further information and eligibility criteria.

Accessibility grants

With our Accessibility grants, you can apply for up to £1,200 per year to help with the cost of specific support to attend a chemistry-related meeting, conference, workshop or professional development event. This support might be any form of equipment, service, or other personal expense associated with meeting your access needs.

Researcher development and travel grant

If you are an RSC member and you are one of the following:

a PhD student actively undertaking a PhD course in the chemical sciences;
a researcher in the chemical sciences (including post docs, research technicians and research assistants)
working in academia
industry or any sector
within 10 years of leaving full time education (at the time of the application deadline).

You can apply for up to £500 to support your participation in this event.

Please note it is not necessary to have confirmation of abstract acceptance before applying for a Researcher Development and Travel Grant and we encourage you to apply as early as possible.

Please see the website for up-to-date information on eligibility, how to apply and submission deadlines.

Researcher Development and Travel Grants can be applied for in addition to Grants for Carers and Assistance Grants.

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Sponsorship & supporting organisations

There are opportunities available to become a Faraday Discussion sponsor and exhibitor, as well as poster session and abstract book advertising options. A sponsorship menu document is available to download from this page with more details and prices. Sponsorship Menu

Venue

The 91AV

The 91AV, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BA, United Kingdom

The Burlington House (Royal Academy) courtyard is located on the north side of Piccadilly, directly across the street from Fortnum and Mason. The 91AV is located on the right hand side of the Burlington House courtyard.

Travel

By underground: The nearest stations are Green Park or Piccadilly Circus; both are a 5-minute walk to the venue. If you use Green Park please leave via Piccadilly Northside and look for the Royal Academy entrance, turn left out of the station, you will see the red flags of Burlington House ahead of you.

By train: London Kings Cross, London Liverpool Street or London Victoria train stations are the most accessible and then require a short tube journey to the venue You can take either the Piccadilly or Victoria line to Green Park or Piccadilly tube stations and only the Victoria line to Green Park from Victoria station

By coach: National Express operates a comprehensive coach service to most parts of the country from Victoria Coach Station, 164 Buckingham Palace Road, Sw1W 9TP
National Express coaches: www.nationalexpress.com
Megabus low-cost coach tickets: http://uk.megabus.com

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Committee

Contact information

91AV

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