In this work, continuing our systematic
studies on mixtures of
1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium- or 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium (BMPYR)-based
ionic liquids (ILs) with water, we thoroughly examine the thermodynamic
and transport behavior of binary aqueous systems of two BMPYR-based
ILs containing trifluoromethanesulfonate (OTF) and tricyanomethanide
(TCM) as counterions. We performed accurate measurements of the phase
equilibria, mixing enthalpy, density, viscosity, and electrical conductivity
for these mixtures. The condensed phase equilibria were determined
by employing dynamic measurements of freezing or cloud point temperatures
and static solubility measurements for the mixtures, as well as DSC
measurements on the neat ILs. The mixing enthalpy of [BMPYR][OTF]
with water was determined at high IL dilutions and four temperatures
in the range T = (288.15–318.15) K. Measurements
of other properties were performed over the entire composition range
(apart from the narrow miscibility gap in the dilute [BMPYR][TCM]
region). The vapor–liquid equilibrium was determined by measuring
water activity at seven equidistant temperatures in the range T = (288.15–318.15) K. The activity data were simultaneously
correlated with those on either excess enthalpy (for [BMPYR][OTF])
or mutual liquid–liquid solubilities (for [BMPYR][TCM]) using
an extended nonrandom two-liquid equation. This thermodynamic description
of the systems was shown to be of outstanding global performance and
allowed us to gain a deeper insight into their energetics. Density,
viscosity, and conductivity for the mixtures, as well as of neat ILs,
were measured at 10 temperatures covering the range T = (288.15–333.15) K and were adequately represented by suitable
empirical relations. A consistent molecular-level interpretation of
various facets of the observed behavior is presented in terms of an
interplay of anion–water and water–water H-bonding,
cation hydrophobic hydration, and ion pairing. Due comparison of new
data with those available in the literature enabled us to discriminate
their quality and identify some of the latter as incorrect.