Rotational
diffusion of two structurally similar organic solutes, 9-
phenylanthracene (9-PA) and rhodamine 110 (R110), has been investigated
in 1- methyl-3-octylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate−diethylene glycol
([MOIM][BF4]− DEG) mixtures to understand the influence of
organic solvent on the organized structure of the ionic liquid. The
reorientation times (τr) of nonpolar and charged olutes have
been measured as a function of viscosity (η) by changing the emperature
(T) as well as the composition of the ionic iquid−organic solvent
mixture. These results when analyzed using the Stokes−Einstein−Debye
(SED) hydrodynamic theory follow the relationship τr = A(η/T)n, where A is the ratio of hydrodynamic volume of the solute to Boltzmann constant. However, in neat [MOIM][BF4]
and up to 0.4 mole fraction of DEG (xDEG), significant deviations from
the SED hydrodynamic theory have been noticed with n being much less
than unity. As xDEG is increased further, the parameters A
and n increase considerably for both solutes, and their rotational
diffusion follows the predictions of the SED hydrodynamic theory. It has
also been observed that the trends in the variation of τr
with η/T for 9-PA and R110 are not similar. These observations have
been rationalized by taking into consideration the organized structure
of the ionic liquid, which gradually becomes homogeneous at the
microscopic level with the addition of the organic solvent.