Electrochemical study and recovery of Pb using 1:2 choline chloride/urea deep eutectic solvent: A variety of Pb species PbSO₄, PbO₂, and PbO exhibits the analogous thermodynamic behavior

Water-insoluble PbSO₄, PbO₂, and PbO are fairly soluble in choline chloride/urea deep eutectic solvent (ChCl/urea DES) in 1:2 molar ratio. Very interestingly, solution prepared from PbO₂ exhibits the almost identical electrochemical behavior as those from PbSO₄ and PbO, indicating that Pb(II) is formed in the DES regardless of what Pb compound is introduced. The electrochemical reduction of the Pb(II) species is determined as an irreversible process, and involves the three-dimensional (3D) instantaneous nucleation with diffusion-controlled growth. From the dependence of the diffusion coefficient on temperature, the activation energy for diffusion of PbSO₄ and PbO₂ is determined to be 33.7 and 34.1 kJ mol⁻¹, respectively. Electrodeposition of Pb was achieved potentiostatically and galvanostatically. The surface morphology of Pb deposits significantly depends on the applied potential and current. The coulombic efficiency of Pb electrodeposition is higher than 90%. Electrodeposition of Pb from a wet DES containing a mixture of three different Pb sources is also investigated. The XRD analysis confirmed that the electrodeposits consisted of metallic Pb.