Potassium Carbonate as a Salt for Deep Eutectic Solvents

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) are emerging as new class of green solvents with the favorable properties of low cost, minimum volatility, biodegradability and suitability for many industrial applications. In an attempt to synthesize a new class of DES, potassium carbonate was used as a salt with glycerol as a hydrogen bond donor (HDB). The basic physical properties of this DES were measured at different temperatures and salt:HBD molar ratios. The physical properties measured included density, viscosity, surface tension, refractive index and pH at a temperature range of 20 - 80 oC. The system didn’t show a freezing points in DSC thermograms, however glass transition temperatures were observed. This system exhibits similar physico-chemical properties to other reported DES. The values of these properties indicated that the prepared DES may have great potential for industrial applications.