Corrosion of metal electrodes in deep eutectic solvents

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) represent a green and non-expensive substitute for ionic liquids as non-aqueous electrolytes (NAEs). Electrochemical applications in NAEs benefit from the extended potential windows, due to the absence or minimization of water. However, interactions between electrode and electrolyte, as well as their degradation, embody a relevant but unexplored territory for the implementation in electrochemical systems. Electrochemical characterization of six electrode-electrolyte couples (three electrodes in two different DESs) were conducted by means of cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Besides conventional electrochemical characterization, ICP-OES, TOC, SEM and EDX measurements were used to track the transformations in the system. This work represents a first attempt to develop a methodology for the characterization of electrode corrosion in DESs.