A study on ferrocene/ferrocenium couple behavior in the distillable ionic liquid n, n- dimethylammonium N',N',-dimethylcarbamate (DIMCARB)

Ferrocene/ferricenium redox couple behavior is studied by cyclic and linear scan voltammetry at gold and glassy carbon micro- and macrodisc stationary and rotating electrodes in the room temperature distillable ionic liquid N, N - dimethylammonium N',N' - dimethylcarbamate (DIMCARB). Bulk electrolysis experiments are carried out as well. It is found that the redox reaction studied deviates from its reversibility. The values of the diffusion coefficients of ferrocene and ferricenium cation at gold are 10-6 cm2s-1 and 10-7 cm2s-1, correspondingly, while at glassy carbon they are: 10-7 cm2s-1. The rotation disc electrode and constant potential bulk electrolysis measurements show that ferrocene: Oxidation is interfered by a fast chemical reaction. The examination of all data obtained leads to the suggestion that ferricenium acting as an oxidizing agent brings about decarboxylation of the ionic liquid's anions. It is concluded that the redox couple studied cannot be used as an internal voltammetric reference standard in DIMCARB.