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On the Colossal and Highly Anisotropic Thermal Expansion Exhibited by Imidazolium Salts

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posted on 2015-11-04, 00:00 authored by I. de Pedro, A. García-Saiz, J. Dupont, P. Migowski, O. Vallcorba, J. Junquera, J. Rius, J. Rodríguez Fernández
The imidazolium salts 1-ethyl-2,3-dimethylimidazolium chloride, Edimim­[Cl], and bromide, Edimim­[Br], exhibit negative and positive thermal expansions, as determined by variable-temperature synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction experiments. Both compounds crystallize in the same monoclinic centrosymmetric space group, showing an anisotropic H-bonding network and imidazolium–imidazolium π+–π+ interactions, which have been corroborated by density functional theory studies. The chloride derivative displays a highly anisotropic thermal expansion with a colossal positive coefficient along one direction. Replacement of Cl by Br in the same crystal structure produces an increase of the colossal coefficient and induces a biaxial negative thermal expansion. By studying the molecular vibration factors and the H-bonding framework in their crystals as a function of temperature, it was possible to rationalize at the molecular level the mechanism for the observed anomalies in thermal expansion.

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