Determination of water in room temperature ionic liquids by cathodic stripping voltammetry at a gold electrode

An electrochemical method based on cathodic stripping voltammetry at a gold electrode has been developed for the determination of water in ionic liquids. The technique has been applied to two aprotic ionic liquids, (1-butyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate), and two protic ionic liquids, (bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium acetate and triethylammonium acetate). When water is present in an ionic liquid, electrooxidation of a gold electrode forms gold oxides. Thus, application of an anodic potential scan or holding the potential of the electrode at a very positive value leads to accumulation of an oxide film. On applying a cathodic potential scan, a sensitive stripping peak is produced as a result of the reduction of gold oxide back to gold. The magnitude of the peak current generated from the stripping process is a function of the water concentration in an ionic liquid. The method requires no addition of reagents and can be used for the sensitive and in situ determination of water present in small volumes of ionic liquids. Importantly, the method allows the determination of water in the carboxylic acid-based ionic liquids, such as acetate-based protic ionic liquids, where the widely used Karl Fischer titration method suffering from an esterification side reaction which generates water as a side product.