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Seiya Watanabe

Profilbild av Seiya Watanabe

Om mig

Overview

I’m engaged in the project of i-LEAP (Ionic Liquids – Lubricants Enabling Advanced Performance). My mission in the project is to clarify the interfacial structure of ionic liquids under electric field by sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy and to find the key factor which contributes to frictional property.

Ionic liquids

Ionic liquids, which are salts with a liquid state, have favorable characteristics for lubricants such as high thermal stability, low vapor pressure, and high ionic conductivity. Moreover, its molecular structure at an electrode can be changed by applying positive/negative voltage. Generally, frictional property under mix – boundary lubrication regime is dominated by molecular adsorbate with mere monolayer or several layers thickness on a sliding surface.This indicates that ionic liquids have potential as novel lubricants which can be actively controlled by applying voltage. From the perspective of its potential for functionalization, clarifying the relationship between such interfacial molecular structure of ionic liquids and frictional property is crucial.

SFG spectroscopy

Sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy is a spectroscopic method applying the second-order non-liner optical effect. One of the most significant advantages of this technique is the selectivity available in probing buried interfaces with molecular-level resolution. In view of this, SFG spectroscopy can be considered as a suitable technique tool to understand the molecular behavior of ionic liquids at an electrode interface.

Profilbild av Seiya Watanabe