Synthesis and characterization of quaternary ammonium based ionic liquids and its antistatic applications for diesel

To improve the diesel conductivity and avoid the electrostatic spark explosion/fire accidents, a series of room temperature ionic liquids (ILs) were synthetized by four kinds of long-chain alkyl quaternary ammonium salt (DTAC, TTAC, HTAC and STAC) and n-butyl naphthenate sulfonic acid using ultrasound method, which were added into the diesel as antistatic agents . Nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and element analysis (EA) were employed to characterize the structures and properties of the ILs, confirming the successful synthesis of the ILs. Experimental results indicated that the prepared ILs can significantly improve the diesel antistatic ability even at ppm level, while the ILs showed an acceptable effect on the diesel combustion performance. The mechanisms of action were also clarified and discussed based on the reverse micelles (RM) microstructures and physicochemical properties of the synthesized ILs. It should be noted that the new diesel antistatic agents have a few features such as high efficiency, lasting effects, mild reaction conditions and low cost, which is bound to have broad application prospect for diesel antistatic accordingly.