Hydrophobic Ionic Liquid Tuning Hydrophobic Carbon to Superamphiphilicity for Reducing Diffusion Resistance in Liquid-Liquid Catalysis Systems

Designing superwettable surfaces to enhance the reaction efficiencies has being been attracted attention. Herein, we report a distinct preparation strategy that hydrophobic bis((trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl)imide (NTf2)-based ionic liquids can endow hydrophobic carbon with superhydrophilicity and superhydrophobicity simultaneously via a one-step method in a large scale. Wettability mechanisms were demonstrated that superhydrophilicity of the as-prepared carbon was mainly attributed to pyridinic N-oxide from the thermolysis of the NTf2- anion, while superoleophilicity of carbon particles was induced by C and F. Further, superamphiphilic carbon can greatly eliminate the diffusion resistance thereby enhancing the reaction efficiencies in liquid-liquid systems by rapid enrichment of reactants around catalysts as well as increasing phasic areas. This work provides a general route to construct superamphiphilic carbon which greatly enhances the reaction efficiencies.