Nanostructured Aqueous Lithium-ion Conductors Formed by the Self-assembly of Imidazolium-type Zwitterions

In the present study, we have synthesized a room-temperature ionic liquid by mixing imidazolium-type zwitterions with lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide. We constructed nanostructured aqueous lithium-ion conductors having hexagonal, lamellar, and bicontinuous cubic structures by the self-assembly of this amphiphilic ionic liquid. These nanostructured lithium-ion conductors exhibited an assembled-structure dependent lithium-ion conduction behavior. The introduction of highly ordered and well-defined liquid crystal structures into room-temperature ionic liquid radically changes the conduction mechanism from diffusion to hopping.