Collect. Czech. Chem. Commun. 1988, 53, 433-445
https://doi.org/10.1135/cccc19880433

On theory of ionic volumes in dilute aqueous solutions of electrolytes

Jiří Čeleda

Department of Nuclear Fuel Technology and Radiochemistry Prague Institute of Chemical Technology, 166 28 Prague 6

Abstract

For purposes of calculation of densities of aqueous solutions of strong electrolytes and of their mixtures, theoretical substantiation of the formerly outlined empirical model of apparent molar ionic volumes φ in solution is presented. According to the model, the hydration sheaths of ions consisting of radially close-packed H2O molecules having effective molar volume V’w the same for all ions, are on their contact with the adjacent structure of liquid water surrounded by a layer of excess voids. This layer can bee substituted in the model by continuous gap of which d0, which again is common to all the ions and is temperature-independent. Using experimental φ values of twenty-seven strong electrolytes together with the data on electrolytic transport of water on ions, Vw = 12 cm3 mol-1 and d0 = (40 ± 2) pm were found for mono- and divalent ions in 1 mol dm-3 solutions, independently of ionic charges and crystallographic radii. The exception are small ions Li+ and Na+, the volumes of which – if interpreted on the basis of the model – correspond to hydration sheaths formed by a cluster of voluminous ice-like structure. An anomaly in this respect has been encountered also in the case of NH+4 ion.