Insight into the Desolvation of Quaternary Ammonium Cation with Acetonitrile as a Solvent in Hydroxyl-Flat Pores: A First-Principles Calculation.

Supercapacitors have a wide range of applications in high-technology fields. The desolvation of organic electrolyte cations affects the capacity size and conductivity of supercapacitors. However, few relevant studies have been published in this field. In this experiment, the adsorption behavior of porous carbon was simulated with first-principles calculations using a graphene bilayer with a layer spacing of 4-10 Å as a hydroxyl-flat pore model. The reaction energies of quaternary ammonium cations, acetonitrile, and quaternary ammonium cationic complexes were calculated in a graphene bilayer with different interlayer spacings, and the desolvation behavior of TEA and SBP ions was described. The critical size for the complete desolvation of [TEA(AN)] was 4.7 Å, and the partial desolvation size ranged from 4.7 to 4.8 Å. The critical size for the complete desolvation of [SBP(AN)] was 5.2 Å, and the partial desolvation size ranged from 5.2 to 5.5 Å. As the ionic radius of the quaternary ammonium cation decreased, the desolvation size showed a positive trend. A density of states (DOS) analysis of the desolvated quaternary ammonium cations embedded in the hydroxyl-flat pore structure showed that the conductivity of the hydroxyl-flat pore was enhanced after gaining electrons. The results of this paper provide some help in selecting organic electrolytes to improve the capacity and conductivity of supercapacitors.