The current work investigated two ionic-liquid (IL)-based deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed of ethylene glycol (EG) and N-methylacetamide (NMAc) as hydrogen bond donors (HBD) and high-melting IL, namely, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ([BMIM]-[MeSO 3 ]), as the hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA). Initially, the COSMO-SAC model was employed for prediction of the eutectic points of the DESs. The computed melting points of the formulated DESs were found to be 70−100 °C lower than that of HBA. The viscosity of the newly developed DESs (∼15 cp) was significantly lower than that of neat room temperature IL electrolytes, and their ionic conductivity was found to be comparable to that of ILs. TGA study revealed no mass loss up to 90 °C, favoring the high temperature application of supercapacitors. To assess electrolytic performance in supercapacitors, electrochemical characterization was done using linear scan voltammetry (LSV), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and galvanostatic charge−discharge (GCD) techniques. LSV provided electrochemical stability up to 3.8 V against a glassy carbon electrode.[BMIM][MeSO 3 ] + EG and [BMIM][MeSO 3 ] + NMAc resulted in operating potential windows (OPWs) of 2 and 3 V, respectively, with a carbon electrode. Moderate values of specific capacitance (55−67 F g −1 ) and power (0.56−1.3 kW kg −1 ) were observed due to higher internal resistance. However, [BMIM][MeSO 3 ] + NMAc resulted in noteworthy specific energy (∼84 Wh kg −1 ) due to its wider OPW.
Photolithography, typically used to create microchannel networks on silicon to fabricate the template for microfluid devices, has the drawback of requiring sophisticated instruments, available only in few premier fabrication units. Template fabrication thus was a privilege of few researchers. Through the years, researchers economised the process of device development using a three-dimensional (3D) printer which directly projected non-planar structures on to a photo-curable resin. Devices thus built lacked the versatility of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The novelty of this work is to use the 3D printing resin for template fabrication and subsequent device development with PDMS. In this way, cost reduction and ease of template generation are substantially enhanced while retaining the advantages of a PDMS device. Unlike directly printed devices that are formed from ultraviolet curable photopolymer, this method fabricates the master with cured photopolymer used in 3D printing. The master pattern is transferred to PDMS for subsequent processing to construct the device. Compared to devices built on silicon templates, PDMS on polymer templates necessitate careful curing at a lower temperature. Low-temperature PDMS-substrate bonding has also been studied in this work. Fabricated device has channel dimensions in the order of 200-300 μm and has been used to study various oil-water emulsions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.