PTFE Bound Activated Carbon – A Quasi Reference Electrode for Ionic Liquids and its Application

Abstract

The search for widely applicable and stable reference electrodes in non-aqueous electrochemistry, especially in Ionic Liquids (IL), is one of the important topics in basic electrochemical research. PTFE bound activated carbon (AC) quasi-reference electrode for application with IL will be presented. The AC quasi-reference electrode shows long term stability in various IL and is unaffected by small impurities or charging currents. The quasi reference electrode (QRE) is used to study the anodic potential limits of three different Imidazolium based IL having cyano groups in the anion. The anodic electrochemical stability follows a clear trend in the order: [C(CN)3] < [N(CN)2] < [B(CN)4] which appears to be in agreement with valence band measurements performed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy