Voltammetric and impedance studies of the electropolishing of type 316 stainless steel in a choline chloride based ionic liquid

We demonstrate the first practical alternative to the use of phosphoric and sulphuric acid mixtures for the electropolishing of stainless steel. In this paper, efficient electropolishing of type 316 stainless steel is demonstrated in an ionic liquid composed of ethylene glycol (HOCH2CH2OH) and choline chloride (HOC2H4N(CH3)3+Cl−). Linear sweep voltammetry, chronoamperometry, scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and AC impedance methods were used to investigate the steel dissolution mechanism and the results are compared to polishing done in aqueous acidic solutions. It is shown that the quality of the polish is related to the breakdown of the oxide film and preliminary data suggest that the polishing process may be controlled by the diffusion of chloride ions. The dissolution is different from that found in aqueous acid solutions, and oxide breakdown is shown to be slower, which can lead to pitting at low current densities.