CHEM Researchers' Work Highlighted in Chemistry - A European Journal
Prof. Ömer Dağ of the Department of Chemistry, PhD student Cemal Albayrak and Assoc. Prof. Atilla Cihaner from Atılım University have recently published a paper in Chemistry - A European Journal.
The paper was selected to be highlighted as the "Inside Cover" of the journal's Vol. 18, Issue 14. Entitled: "Inside Cover: A New, Highly Conductive, Lithium Salt/Nonionic Surfactant, Lyotropic Liquid-Crystalline Mesophase and Its Application," it reported on recent findings of Prof. Dağ's group concerning lyotropic liquid crystals.
The findings are important for electrochemical applications (solar cells, fuel cells, electro-chromic displays and batteries) as new, highly conductive gel-electrolytes (as demonstrated using an electro-chromic device). They are also fundamentally important in that they illustrate that the solubility of matter can be enhanced by spatially confining a super-saturated salt solution in the hydrophilic nano-domains of the LC mesophase, such that the amount of salt dissolved in the new LC phase can be much higher than in water, the best solvent for lithium salts.
The cover illustration displays a polarized optical microscopy image of the liquid crystalline gel-electrolyte, and the plots indicate the conductivities under various conditions. Further details of the study may be obtained by contacting Prof. Dağ or by referring to the paper (Chem. Eur. J. 2012, 18, 4190).