Speed of sound of ionic liquids: Database, estimation, and its application for thermal conductivity prediction

Speed of sound is an important thermodynamic property of ionic liquids (ILs) and always chosen as a source to determine other properties. A database for the speed of sound of pure ILs created by collecting experimental data from literature covering the period from 2005 to 2013 is presented. The effects of temperature and the alkyl chain length on the speed of sound are discussed and a second‐order corresponding states group contribution method is developed to estimate the speed of sound. An average absolute deviation (AAD) of 2.34% has been obtained. This method offers a simple but reliable approach to estimate the speed of sound of new ILs. Finally, the speed of sound is used to determine the thermal conductivity of ILs based on the Bridgman theory. The calculated values of thermal conductivity show a good agreement with the experimental ones with an AAD of 3.91%. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1120–1131, 2014