Abstract
Ionic liquids are solvents of interest for applications such as electroplating, winning and refining of metals. Of particular interest is the possibility of processing reactive metals such as aluminium, magnesium and titanium that cannot be deposited from aqueous solutions. Aluminium has been electrodeposited from AlCl3: ionic liquid mixtures at low temperatures relative to conventional Hall–Héroult smelting. Imidazolium ionic liquids have been used in the past due to their relatively high ionic conductivity and cation stability. The less studied and less expensive phosphonium ionic liquids systems may provide a viable alternative to imidazolium ionic liquids for certain applications. New information regarding the physical properties and electrochemical behaviour of phosphonium ionic liquid systems is presented.
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