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Ionic liquid mixed with poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted nanoparticle aggregates at low particle concentrations was shown to exhibit different dynamics and ionic conductivity than that of pure ionic liquid in our previous studies. In this work, we report on the quasi-elastic neutron scattering results on ionic liquid containing polymer-grafted nanoparticles at the higher particle concentration. The diffusivity of imidazolium (HMIM + ) cations of 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (HMIM-TFSI) in the presence of poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted iron oxide nanoparticles and the ionic conductivity of solutions were discussed through the confinement. Analysis of the elastic incoherent structure factor suggested the confinement radius decreased with the addition of grafted particles in HMIM-TFSI/solvent mixture, indicating the confinement that is induced by the high concentration of grafted particles, shrinks the HMIM-TFSI restricted volume. We further conjecture that this enhanced diffusivity occurs as a result of the local ordering of cations within aggregates of poly(methyl methacrylate)-grafted particles. 

The MMT Adaptive optics exoPlanet characterization System (MAPS) is an exoplanet characterization program that encompasses instrument development, observational science, and education. The instrument we are developing for the 6.5m MMT observatory is multi-faceted, including a refurbished 336-actuator adaptive secondary mirror (ASM); two pyramid wavefront sensors (PyWFS's); a 1-kHz adaptive optics (AO) control loop; a high-resolution and long-wavelength upgrade to the Arizona infraRed Imager and Echelle Spectrograph (ARIES); and a new-AO-optimized upgrade to the MMT-sensitive polarimeter (MMT-Pol). With the completed MAPS instrument, we will execute a 60-night science program to characterize the atmospheric composition and dynamics of ~50-100 planets around other stars. The project is approaching first light, anticipated for Summer/Fall of 2022. With the electrical and optical tests complete and passing the review milestone for the ASM's development, it is currently being tuned. The PyWFS's are being built and integrated in their respective labs: the visible-light PyWFS at the University of Arizona (UA), and the infrared PyWFS at the University of Toronto (UT). The top-level AO control software is being developed at UA, with an on-sky calibration algorithm being developed at UT. ARIES development continues at UA, and MMT-Pol development is at the University of Minnesota. The science and education programs are in planning and preparation. We will present the design and development of the entire MAPS instrument and project, including an overview of lab results and next steps. 

We incorporated polymer-grafted nanoparticles into ionic and zwitterionic liquids to explore the solvation and confinement effects on their heterogeneous dynamics using quasi-elastic neutron scattering (QENS). 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (HMIM-TFSI) mixed with deuterated poly(methyl methacrylate) (d-PMMA)-grafted nanoparticles is studied to unravel how dynamic coupling between PMMA and HMIM-TFSI influence the fast and slow diffusion characteristics of the HMIM + cations. The zwitterionic liquid, 1-butyl-3-methyl imidazole-2-ylidene borane (BMIM-BH 3 ) is critically selected and mixed with PMMA-grafted nanoparticles for comparison in this work as its ions do not self-dissociate and it does not couple with PMMA through ion-dipole interactions as HMIM-TFSI does. We find that long-range unrestricted diffusion of HMIM + cations is higher in well-dispersed particles than in aggregated particle systems, whereas the localized diffusion of HMIM + is measured to be higher in close-packed particles. Translational diffusion dynamics of BMIM-BH 3 is not influenced by any particle structures suggesting that zwitterions do not interact with PMMA. This difference between two ionic liquid types enables us to decouple polymer effects from the diffusion of ionic liquids, which is integral to understand the ionic transport mechanism in ionic liquids confined in polymer-grafted nanoparticle electrolytes.