I&EC 205 |
| While room temperature ionic liquids have been of interest for over 20 years, their widespread application to large-scale processes has been precluded by the high cost. We have recently shown that ambient temperature ionic liquids can be formed by reacting substituted quaternary ammonium salts such as choline chloride with various metal salts. These ionic liquids are air and moisture insensitive, easy to prepare, conducting, have negligible vapour pressure and relatively inexpensive. They represent the first economically viable alternative to aqueous electroplating baths. This paper discusses the ionic species present and solution properties of these liquids. The effect of the deposition and dissolution parameters upon the material characteristics is also discussed. We also demonstrate that pure metals such as zinc and chromium can be deposited from such ionic liquids with high current efficiencies and demonstrate the results of scale up trials. We also show that ionic liquids can be used for electropolishing with significantly improved current efficiencies over acidic aqueous solutions. The ionic liquids were applied to a 1.3 tonne pre-production process and the results of these trials are explained. |
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Ionic Liquids: Not Just Solvents Anymore OR Ionic Liquids: Parallel Futures (Sponsored by Green Chemistry and Engineering, Separation Science and Technology and Novel Chemistry with Industrial Applications Sub-Divisions)
1:30 PM-5:45 PM, Monday, 27 March 2006 Georgia World Congress Center -- B314, Oral
Division of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry |