Thermophysical Properties of Newly Synthesized Ammonium-Based Protic Ionic Liquids: Effect of Temperature, Anion and Alkyl Chain Length

Ionic liquids which are often classified as low melting point salts have received significant attention from research groups and industries to be used in a wide range of applications. Many of these applications require thorough knowledge on the thermophysical properties of the ionic liquids before utilizing their full potentials in various fields. In this work, a series of alkylammonium cation and carboxylate anion-based room temperature protic ionic liquids (PILs) were synthesized by varying length of alkyl chain of the cation from diethyl to dibutyl combined with pentanoate, hexanoate and heptanoate anions. These ammonium-based PILs named as diethylammonium pentanoate [DEA][C5], diethylammonium hexanoate [DEA][C6], diethylammonium heptanoate [DEA][C7], dibutylammonium pentanoate [DBA][C5], dibutylammonium hexanoate [DBA][C6] and dibutylammonium heptanoate [DBA][C7] were characterized using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. The thermophysical properties of the PILs namely density, dynamic viscosity and refractive index were measured and analyzed. Density, ρ and dynamic viscosity, η were determined at T = (293.15 to 363.15) K and refractive index, nD was measured at T = (293.15 to 333.15) K. The fitting parameters are proposed for the empirical correlations of density, dynamic viscosity and refractive index. The values of thermal expansion coefficient, αp, molecular volume, Vm, standard entropy, S° and lattice potential energy, Upot also have been calculated by using the specified equations. The thermal decomposition temperature, Td was also determined using a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) while the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique provided the glass transition, Tg, melting point, Tm and crystallization, Tc temperatures of the PILs. The experimental results revealed that the dependency of the experimental values namely the ρ, η, nD, and Td on the alkyl chain of the anion, size of the cations and the temperature of measurement.


Introduction
Ionic liquids (ILs) are molten salts generally made from large organic cations and organic or inorganic anions. These ions interact poorly with each other which causes the salts to exist in liquid forms at room temperature or below 100 • C. ILs possess unique properties such as low

Synthesis of PILs
The PILs were synthesized using a 1-step neutralization reaction. An equimolar amount of acid was added to an equimolar amount of base in 1:1 mol ratio. The organic acids were added dropwise to the flask under stirring with a magnetic bar. The mixtures were constantly stirred for 24 h at room temperature. In order to remove traces of water that might be coming from surrounding atmosphere or from the starting reagents, the synthesized PILs were heated at 70 • C under vacuum approximately for 8 h upon the completion of the reaction [35]. The dried samples were sealed and kept until further analysis. There was no noticeable solid crystal or precipitation formed when the PILs were purified after synthesis [36]. The proton transfer reaction results in carboxylate salt namely pentanoate, hexanoate and heptanoate of diethyl or dibutylamine. Generally, the reaction can be expressed as follows: (R x ) 2 where R X is the alkyl substitutions into the amine compound (ethyl or butyl). Meanwhile, R Y is the alkyl substitution into the acid compound (pentyl, hexyl or heptyl). For example, diethylammonium pentanoate is formed when R X is ethyl and R Y is pentyl. In this work, diethylamine [DEA] and dibutylamine [DBA] were used as the sources of the cations while carboxylate acids with alkyl chain length of pentyl, [C5], hexyl, [C6] and heptyl [C7] were utilized to provide the anions of the PILs. The combinations of the acids and the amines resulted in six PILs as tabulated in Table 1.

Structural Characterization and Water Content
The structural confirmation of the PILs was done by using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy (Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA). In this work, 100 µL sample was dissolved in 600 µL solvent (CDCl 3 ) for each analysis. Both 1 H and 13 C spectra were recorded using Bruker Ascend TM 500 from Bruker, Billerica, MA, USA. The spectra are reported in parts per million and the multiplicities are abbreviated as s (singlet), d (doublet), t (triplet) and m (multiplet). Meanwhile, Volumetric Karl Fisher and Stromboli Oven (Model: V30 Mettler Toledo, Columbus, OH, USA) was used to analyze the water content in the synthesized PILs.

Thermophysical Properties Characterization
The density and viscosity of PILs were measured simultaneously via scanning preset at temperatures from 293.15 to 363.15 K using Anton Paar Stabinger Viscometer SVM3000 (Graz, Austria). The measurements were done in three replications and the average value was taken for further study. The viscometer was calibrated using a standard fluid provided by the supplier and a validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL with known density and viscosity values.
The refractive index values of the PILs were determined using ATAGO RX-5000 Alpha Digital Refractometer from Tokyo, Japan in the temperature range of 293. 15  organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures.
The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, MA, USA) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 • C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 • C·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, OH, USA). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 • C with a heating rate of 10 • C·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot. organic solvents provided by the supplier were used to calibrate the instrument. A validation test was also conducted using a commercial imidazolium IL and the result was compared with the values available from literatures. The decomposition temperatures of the PILs were determined by using thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) (Simultaneous Thermal Analyer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer, Walthan, Massachusetts, United States). In this study, Simultaneous Thermal Analyzer (STA) 6000 from Perkin Elmer (Waltham, Massachusetts, United States) was used to complete the thermal stability analysis. An approximate 10 mg of sample was weighted in a crucible pan and the analysis was performed in the temperature range of 30-650 °C under 20 mL/min nitrogen flow with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 .
The phase transition and melting point analyses were carried out by using Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) 1 Star system, Mettler Toledo (Columbus, Ohio, United States). About 10 mg of samples was weighted in aluminum pans and sealed. The reaction was conducted in the temperature range of 80 to −150 °C with a heating rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . The data were collected in the second cooling plot.

Structural Characterization and Water Content Analysis
All six ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this work exist as liquids at room temperature. The NMR and water content results of each of these six ammonium-  13

Structural Characterization and Water Content Analysis
All six ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this work exist as liquids at room temperature. The NMR and water content results of each of these six ammonium-

Structural Characterization and Water Content Analysis
All six ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this work exist as liquids at room temperature. The NMR and water content results of each of these six ammonium-

Structural Characterization and Water Content Analysis
All six ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this work exist as liquids at room temperature. The NMR and water content results of each of these six ammonium-

Structural Characterization and Water Content Analysis
All six ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this work exist as liquids at room temperature. The NMR and water content results of each of these six ammonium- Six protic ionic liquids with the ammonium cation, [DEA] and [DBA], were synthesized through acid-base neutralization reactions with different alkyl chain length of ammonium-based cation and the corresponding organic acid. The reported water content is between 0.93% and 6.45% for the synthesized PILs. The water traces may come from the starting materials or from surrounding atmosphere during the synthesis process [35]. Besides, Chen and his team conducted investigations on water sorption in PILs at ambient environment and revealed that PILs are highly hygroscopic and have higher hydrophilicity compared to aprotic ionic liquids [37]. Meanwhile, other researchers concluded that the anion was the key factor influencing water sorption [38]. Furthermore, several researchers indicate that the presence of water molecules reduces the electrostatic attractions between the ions and consequently lowers the viscosity of ILs as the overall cohesive energy of the system is decreased [39]. Nevertheless, the thermophysical properties of our ammonium-based PILs are solely reported by using these water contents.

Thermophysical Properties Analysis
All instruments used for measuring the density, viscosity and refractive index were calibrated using standard solutions provided by the supplier. In addition, a commercial IL namely 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide [HMIM][Tf 2 N], (Merck, 382150-50-7, 98%) with readily available physical property data was tested using these instruments so as to validate the experimental data. From the measurements, the experimental values of density, viscosity and refractive index at 298.15 K displayed a very good agreement with the values from the literatures as shown in Table S1 in the Supplementary Materials. The density values of the PILs were recorded as a function of temperature from 293.15 to 363.15 K. The plots of the experimental density of PILs are shown in Figure 1 and the experimental data is available Table S2 in the Supplementary Materials. Generally, based on the results, the densities for all six ammonium-based PILs decreased linearly as the temperature increased despite the difference in the alkyl length of the anions. At higher temperatures, the intermolecular forces between the constituted ions are weakened and therefore increased the mobility of the ions. Consequently, the unit volume for these ions increased as well [22,40,41]. On the other hand, from the experimental results, [DEA][C5] has the highest density values compared to the rest of ammonium-based PILs. This observation can be explained by the change of local packing of the PIL structure due to the smaller size of the [DEA] cation, in comparison to [DBA] cation [22,42]. Several researchers reported the similar behavior using other PIL with ethylammonium cation, which increasing trending packing efficiency with the decreasing of molecular weight [43]. Other than that, [DBA][C7] showed the lowest density value at all temperatures. As the alkyl chain increases in both cation and anion of the PIL, the structure gets bigger and bulkier which in turn promoting steric hindrance and asymmetric nature in the PIL structure and thus result in a lower density value for the PIL [41,42].  [22,42]. Several researchers reported the similar behavior using other PIL with ethylammonium cation, which increasing trending packing efficiency with the decreasing of molecular weight [43]. Other than that, [DBA][C7] showed the lowest density value at all temperatures. As the alkyl chain increases in both cation and anion of the PIL, the structure gets bigger and bulkier which in turn promoting steric hindrance and asymmetric nature in the PIL structure and thus result in a lower density value for the PIL [41,42].  Viscosity is a key parameter that helps to designate the potential applications of any ILs and it is greatly influenced by intermolecular interactions namely hydrogen bonding, dispersive forces and columbic interactions [44]. Figure 2 and Table S3 in the Supplementary Materials show the dynamic viscosity data of the ammonium-based PILs which have been measured in the temperature range of 293.15 to 363.15 K.
From Figure 2, analysis of the results revealed that the viscosity of all ammonium-based PILs decreased exponentially with increasing temperature in the range of temperature studied. It was found that the PILs with [DBA] cation display higher viscosity value than PILs with [DEA] cation. The increase of viscosity with increasing alkyl chain length in the ILs structure is due to the increase in van der Waals attraction between the aliphatic alkyl chain [40,45] [36]. This behavior might be affected by the increase of the cation structure due to the replacement of hydrogen atoms with an ethyl group.
The refractive index, nD estimates the electronic polarizability of the molecules and shows the dielectric response to an external electric field produced by electromagnetic waves (light) [46]. Generally, it describes how fast light travels through the material. The refractive index of ammoniumbased PILs was measured at temperatures of 293.15 to 333.15 K and the experimental data is available Viscosity is a key parameter that helps to designate the potential applications of any ILs and it is greatly influenced by intermolecular interactions namely hydrogen bonding, dispersive forces and columbic interactions [44]. Figure 2 and Table S3 in the Supplementary Materials show the dynamic viscosity data of the ammonium-based PILs which have been measured in the temperature range of 293.15 to 363.15 K.
From Figure 2, analysis of the results revealed that the viscosity of all ammonium-based PILs decreased exponentially with increasing temperature in the range of temperature studied. It was found that the PILs with [DBA] cation display higher viscosity value than PILs with [DEA] cation. The increase of viscosity with increasing alkyl chain length in the ILs structure is due to the increase in van der Waals attraction between the aliphatic alkyl chain [40,45] This behavior might be affected by the increase of the cation structure due to the replacement of hydrogen atoms with an ethyl group.
The refractive index, n D estimates the electronic polarizability of the molecules and shows the dielectric response to an external electric field produced by electromagnetic waves (light) [46]. Generally, it describes how fast light travels through the material. The refractive index of ammonium-based PILs was measured at temperatures of 293.15 to 333.15 K and the experimental data is available in Table S4 in the Supplementary Materials. The n D decreased in a very narrow window with increasing of temperature as shown in Figure 3. On the other hand, the values of refractive index increased with the increase in cation and anion chain length of PILs. The increment of the refractive index in line with the increment of the alkyl chain in the PILs structures is believed to occur due to the influence of higher intermolecular interaction such as the van der Waals forces of the PILs [41].

Thermophysical Properties Correlations
The density, ρ dynamic viscosity, η and refractive index, n D experimental values were fitted using the following equations [40,47]: where ρ is the density, η is dynamic viscosity and n D is refractive index of the ammonium-based PILs, T is temperature in K, and A 1 through A 6 are correlation coefficients using the least square method. Tables 2-4 represent the estimation of values of correlation coefficients and the standard deviations, SD calculated using the equation from the literature [40].  For further understanding of the intermolecular interaction, the thermal expansion coefficient can be calculated from the experimental values of density, ρ and the data is tabulated in Table 5. Thermal expansion coefficients, α p for the synthesized PILs can be defined as [22,40,48]: The calculated values in Table 5 show that the thermal expansion coefficients increase with the total C-numbers in the structure of PILs. This indicates that the thermal expansion coefficient is dependent on the cation symmetry and the length of alkyl substituent [49]. In view of the result obtained, thermal expansion coefficients of PILs with [DBA] cation are higher than that of PILs with [DEA] cation. Meanwhile, the behavior of thermal expansion coefficient is almost the same for all PILs with the same cation group in which the calculations show very small deviations of α p values with temperature. Thus, thermal expansion coefficient can be considered as temperature independent as it shows similar result over the temperature range studied. Yunus et al., also reported the similar trend of variation of thermal expansion coefficient for different group of PILs [22].
Molar volume, V m can be defined as the volume occupied by one mole of a compound at a given temperature and pressure [50]. The molar volume, V m was obtained by the following empirical equation according to the experimental densities [45,[51][52][53]: where V m is the molecular volume, M is molar mass of PILs, ρ is density of PILs at 303.15 K and N A is the Avogadro's number. Molar volume for all ammonium-based PILs were calculated at temperature of 303.15 K. As shown in Table 6, the molar volume, V m is proportional to the length of the alkyl chain of the anion as well as the size of the cation. The former is caused by the addition of CH 2 group in the anion of the PILs and similar findings have been observed in other studies, while the latter is due to the bigger size of [DBA] as compared to [DEA] [5,22]. Entropy is the measurement of randomness of molecules. Generally, entropy increases with the increase in molar volume [5]. In order to study the relationship between molecular volume and standard entropy for both ionic liquids and organic acids, Glasser [54] had provided a standard equation as follows: in which V m is the molecular volume in nm 3 and S • is standard entropy. The results in Table 6 clearly show that the standard entropy (S • ) of ammonium-based PILs increased with the molar volume for all ammonium-based PILs at the studied temperature. This increment in the S • values could be related to increasing the number of carbon atoms in alkyl chain of carboxylate anion [38]. In this work, the V m increases in the sequence of Besides standard entropy, Glasser [54] also proposed a method for calculating lattice potential energies (U pot ) of ILs in order to predict the relative stabilities of ILs by using Equation (7) where γ and δ are fitting coefficients with values of 1981.9 kJ·mol −1 and 103.8 kJ·mol −1 , respectively.
There is no obvious influence of structural properties in lattice potential energy. However, electrostatic or columbic interaction is the main factor that contributes to lattice energy which is inversely related to the volume of ions [5,41,44]. Table 6 shows the calculated lattice potential energy of the studied PILs at 303.15 K. In this work, we observed that the lattice potential energy decreased with increasing carbon chain length of the carboxylate anions. This can be explained by the fact that adding a methylene group in the alkyl chain of the ammonium-based PILs will increase the entropy and consequently cause a reduction of the packing efficiency in the PILs. Thus, as a result, lattice potential energy will decrease with the increase in the alkyl chain length of the PILs.
The study of thermal analysis of a substance is crucial as it will provide information on how PILs behave as heat flows. The thermal stability of the PIL was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the data are tabulated in Table 6 while TGA profiles are graphically presented in Figure 4. The TGA for studied PILs was performed at scanning rate of 10 • C·min −1 . In the TGA study, the main factor of thermal stability is dependent on the strength of the heteroatom-carbon and heteroatom-hydrogen bond [44].
The study of thermal analysis of a substance is crucial as it will provide information on how PILs behave as heat flows. The thermal stability of the PIL was examined by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the data are tabulated in Table 6 while TGA profiles are graphically presented in Figure  4. The TGA for studied PILs was performed at scanning rate of 10 °C ·min −1 . In the TGA study, the main factor of thermal stability is dependent on the strength of the heteroatom-carbon and heteroatom-hydrogen bond [44].  The studied PILs showed thermal stabilities in the range of approximately 404 to 442 K. The TGA profiles of the studied PILs indicate a one-step decomposition temperature for all ammoniumbased PILs. As can be seen from Figure 4 and Table 6, the thermal decomposition (Td) increases as  The studied PILs showed thermal stabilities in the range of approximately 404 to 442 K. The TGA profiles of the studied PILs indicate a one-step decomposition temperature for all ammonium-based PILs. As can be seen from Figure 4 and Table 6, the thermal decomposition (T d ) increases as the alkyl chain length in anion increases within the same cation and the order of thermal stability of the ammonium-based PILs can be listed as [ . Generally, this thermal stability trend can be related to the strong intermolecular forces present in a higher alkyl chain [C7], which requires a high amount of energy to cleave the neighboring bonds. More energy is required to destruct the C-C bond as it involves a series of competitive intramolecular and intermolecular process [45,55].
DSC is a thermo-analytical technique that measures the difference in amount of heat required to increase the samples' temperature. The thermogram values of the ammonium-based PILs were recorded as a function of temperature and the extracted data were shown in Table 6. Examples of DSC curves for the ammonium-based PILs synthesized in this study are shown in Figure 5. From the DSC analysis, only PILs with [DEA] cation exhibited a glass transition temperature (T g ) under the experimental conditions. This indicates that only PILs with [DEA] cation experience heat flow on heating from amorphous glass to liquid state [5]. T g represents the cohesive energy of the sample. Liquids with low cohesive energies possess T g values which in turn contribute to desirable physiochemical properties such as low viscosity and high ionic conductivity [56]. There is a marginal difference in the T g values with respect to the size of the PILs and similar trend is also observed in the literature [29,56]. Further analysis of the DSC thermograms indicates that only ammonium-based PILs with [DEA] cation possess crystallization temperature (T c ) with no obvious trend and results show that [DEA][C5] exhibits a T c value of −58.78 • C. All ammonium-based PILs in this study show the presence of melting temperature (T m ). The T m of PIL is largely depending on the crystal lattice strength of the PIL itself. The poor packing efficiency of the counterions destabilizes the crystal lattice of the PILs and this causes the crystal lattice energy to decrease and consequently contributes to the low T m of the PILs [29,57]. Generally, the melting point of PILs with [DEA] cation is higher than that of PILs with [DBA] cation suggesting a better packing of the counterions in the PILs of [DEA] cations. On the other hand, all reported ILs in this paper exhibit low T m compared to common ILs such as 3-butyl-1-methylimidazolium chloride, BMIMCl [58][59][60]. strength of the PIL itself. The poor packing efficiency of the counterions destabilizes the crystal lattice of the PILs and this causes the crystal lattice energy to decrease and consequently contributes to the low Tm of the PILs [29,57]. Generally, the melting point of PILs with [DEA] cation is higher than that of PILs with [DBA] cation suggesting a better packing of the counterions in the PILs of [DEA] cations. On the other hand, all reported ILs in this paper exhibit low Tm compared to common ILs such as 3butyl-1-methylimidazolium chloride, BMIMCl [58][59][60].

Conclusions
In this work, six ammonium-based protic ILs with

Conclusions
In this work, six ammonium-based protic ILs with [DEA] and [DBA] cations and combination of three alkyl length of anions (pentyl [C5], hexyl [C6], heptyl [C7]) have been successfully synthesized and characterized. The important thermophysical properties namely density and viscosity were measured from 293.15 to 363.15 • C, while the refractive index was examined from 293.15 to 333.15 K. The water contents of the PILs might have some effects on the measured thermophysical properties. The fitting parameters were proposed for the empirical correlations of density, dynamic viscosity, and refractive index. In addition, the experimental values of densities have been used to calculate the thermal expansion coefficient (α p ) and molecular volume (V m ) of the ammonium-based PILs. The standard entropy (S • ) and lattice potential energy (U pot ) have also been calculated using equations available from the literature. Furthermore, the thermal stabilities and behaviors of the ammonium-based PILs were investigated resulting in the determination of thermal decomposition temperature (T d ), glass transition temperature (T g ), crystallization temperature (T c ) and melting point (T m ) of the ammonium-based PILs studied. All results indicate the effects of temperature, anion, alkyl chain length and size of the ammonium-based PILs towards the thermophysical properties of the newly synthesized PILs. These results can further be utilized prior to the usage of the PILs in any applications.