Investigation of cation and anion emission mechanisms from porous electrospray thrusters using ionic liquid mixtures
Investigation of cation and anion emission mechanisms from porous electrospray thrusters using ionic liquid mixtures
In this study, we investigated plume formation, ion emission, and fragmentation using a single emitter ion source to explore mixtures as alternative propellants. Our aim was to unravel the complex interactions between cations and anions by examining combinations of two cations ([EMI+] and [EA+]) and two anions ([BF−4] and [NO−3]). Initial results suggest that dissolving room temperature solid ionic liquids (ILs) within room temperature liquid ILs can improve solution conductivity by 20 %. Our findings indicate that EA-N solutions demonstrate both acceleration region and field-free fragmentation, while pure EMI-BF4predominantly undergoes dimer-to-monomer field free fragmentation, releasing high-energy neutrals. The EMI-N : EMI-BF4 mixture showed an outstanding current emission with lower onset voltage. Time-of-Flight (ToF) mass spectroscopy measurements revealed the emissions of [EA+][EMI-BF4], [EMI+][EA-BF4], [NO+][EMI-N] and [NO+2][EMI-N] from mixtures with EMI-BF4. This study concludes that ionic liquid mixtures can be beneficial as propellants, forming high mass-to-charge ions or emitting higher currents.
Turan, Nazli
d67ce4ba-4220-495b-905d-222ab86992f1
Dworski, Szymon
433c1ca7-098e-4d48-89b2-0c46d18cc635
Ryan, Charles N.
3627e47b-01b8-4ddb-b248-4243aad1f872
23 June 2025
Turan, Nazli
d67ce4ba-4220-495b-905d-222ab86992f1
Dworski, Szymon
433c1ca7-098e-4d48-89b2-0c46d18cc635
Ryan, Charles N.
3627e47b-01b8-4ddb-b248-4243aad1f872
Turan, Nazli, Dworski, Szymon and Ryan, Charles N.
(2025)
Investigation of cation and anion emission mechanisms from porous electrospray thrusters using ionic liquid mixtures.
38th International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC 2024), , Toulouse, France.
23 - 28 Jun 2025.
14 pp
.
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Conference or Workshop Item
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Abstract
In this study, we investigated plume formation, ion emission, and fragmentation using a single emitter ion source to explore mixtures as alternative propellants. Our aim was to unravel the complex interactions between cations and anions by examining combinations of two cations ([EMI+] and [EA+]) and two anions ([BF−4] and [NO−3]). Initial results suggest that dissolving room temperature solid ionic liquids (ILs) within room temperature liquid ILs can improve solution conductivity by 20 %. Our findings indicate that EA-N solutions demonstrate both acceleration region and field-free fragmentation, while pure EMI-BF4predominantly undergoes dimer-to-monomer field free fragmentation, releasing high-energy neutrals. The EMI-N : EMI-BF4 mixture showed an outstanding current emission with lower onset voltage. Time-of-Flight (ToF) mass spectroscopy measurements revealed the emissions of [EA+][EMI-BF4], [EMI+][EA-BF4], [NO+][EMI-N] and [NO+2][EMI-N] from mixtures with EMI-BF4. This study concludes that ionic liquid mixtures can be beneficial as propellants, forming high mass-to-charge ions or emitting higher currents.
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Published date: 23 June 2025
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38th International Electric Propulsion Conference (IEPC 2024), , Toulouse, France, 2025-06-23 - 2025-06-28
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Local EPrints ID: 503526
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/503526
PURE UUID: e93ec255-9dcf-4928-bd99-c50e4b8b5df7
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Date deposited: 04 Aug 2025 16:54
Last modified: 04 Aug 2025 16:54
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Author:
Nazli Turan
Author:
Szymon Dworski
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