Influence of Cation Size on the Ionicity, Fluidity, and Physiochemical Properties of 1,2,4-Triazolium Based Ionic Liquids

Interpreting the physiochemical properties and structure–property correlations of ionic liquids (ILs) is a key to the enlargement of their optimized structures for specific applications. In this work, a series of ILs based on 1-alkyl-1,2,4-triazolium cation with trifluoromethanesulfonate anion were synthesized and the effect of cation and temperature on physiochemical properties such as density, viscosity, speed of sound, conductivity, and rheology was studied. Temperature dependence densities were correlated with the densities estimated by the Gardas and Coutinho model, whereas viscosity and molar conductivity have been found to satisfy the Vogel–Tammann–Fulcher (VTF) equation over the studied temperature range 293.15–343.15 K. Further, to explore the wide range of applications, ionicity has been tested by correlating the fluidity with molar conductivity and it was found that synthesized ILs can be referred to as "good ILs". Furthermore, the fluidity behavior describing the interactions between the cation and anion of ILs was investigated through their rheological properties, and the Newtonian behavior of ILs has been examined by varying the effect of shear rate on viscosity. Finally, the impact of structure variants in terms of the N-1 functionalized 1,2,4-triazole ring has been analyzed over the studied properties.