Robert G Felsted, Trent R Graham, Yatong Zhao, J David Bazak, Emily T Nienhuis, Peter J Pauzauskie, Alan G Joly, Carolyn I Pearce, Zheming Wang, Kevin M Rosso
The dynamics, orientational anisotropy, diffusivity, viscosity, and density were measured for concentrated lithium salt solutions, including lithium chloride (LiCl), lithium bromide (LiBr), lithium nitrite (LiNO2 ), and lithium nitrate (LiNO3 ), with methyl thiocyanate as an infrared vibrational probe molecule, using two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and viscometry. The 2D IR, NMR, and viscosity results show that LiNO2 exhibits longer correlation times, lower diffusivity, and nearly 4 times greater viscosity compared to those of the other lithium salt solutions of the same concentration, suggesting that nitrite anions may strongly facilitate structure formation via strengthening water-ion network interactions, directly impacting bulk solution properties at sufficiently high concentrations...
May 6, 2024: Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters