Conductivity of tetra-alkylammonium salts in polyaromatic solvents

Abstract

It is shown that the conductivity of tetra-alkylammonium salts in low dielectric constant media is not greatly affected by the length of the carbon chain of the cation. The effect upon the conductivity of varying the size of anions and cations has been analysed in several pure and mixed solvents using a modified Fuoss–Kraus theory to take into account the activity coefficient of the undissociated electrolyte. The interionic distance parameter of the ion pairs is calculated and shown to be fairly constant, indicating interpenetration of the ions. Also, following on from the preceding paper, the effect upon the conductivity of the local environment around the solute is found to be negligible. The bulk dielectric constant of the solvent is shown to be the major factor affecting the conductivity of salts.