Intramolecular Vibrational Energy Relaxation of CO2 in Cross-Linked Poly(ethylene glycol) Diacrylate-Based Ion Gels

Ultrafast two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy (2D-IR) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were used to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([emim][Tf2N]), cross-linked low-molecular-weight poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA), and an ion gel composed of a 50 vol % blend of the two. The center frequency of the antisymmetric stretch, nu(3), of CO2 shifts monotonically to lower wavenumbers with increasing polymer content, with the largest line width in the ion gel (6 cm(-1)). Increasing polymer content slows both spectral diffusion and vibrational energy relaxation (VER) rates. An unexpected excited-state absorbance peak appears in the 2D-IR of cross-linked PEGDA due to VER from the antisymmetric stretch into the bending mode, nu(2). Thirty-two response functions are necessary to describe the observed features in the 2D-IR spectra. Nonlinear least-squares fitting extracts both spectral diffusion and VER rates. In the ion gel, CO2 exhibits spectral diffusion dynamics that lie between that of the pure compounds. The kinetics of VER reflect both fast excitation and de-excitation of the bending mode, similar to the ionic liquid (IL), and slow overall vibrational population relaxation, similar to the cross-linked polymer. The IL-like and polymer-like dynamics suggest that the CO2 resides at the interface of the two components in the ion gel.