Abnormal viscosity increment observed for an ionic liquid by dissolving lithium chloride

The effect of adding an inorganic salt, lithium chloride, and water on the viscosity of an ionic liquid, 1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (BmimCl), was investigated by shear stress measurements with a rheometer. The shear rate dependence of the viscosity showed shear thinning behavior, which implies that some structure should exist in the liquid and the structure should change at high shear rates. Addition of LiCl enhances the viscosity of BmimCl. The logarithmic value of zero-shear viscosity, η⁰, of BmimCl increases linearly and largely with increasing added salt content. The increasing rate of the viscosity by addition of LiCl was about 10 times larger than that for an aqueous solution of LiCl. When water is added into BmimCl, viscosity decreased. The increasing rate of the viscosity by addition of LiCl for BmimCl with about 5 wt % of water was almost the same as that for BmimCl without addition of water.