Electrical conductivity, speeds of sound, and viscosity of aqueous ammonium nitrate solutions

Abstract

Density, electrical conductivity, speeds of sound, and viscosity of aqueous ammonium nitrate solutions were measured as functions of concentration (m, mol kg–1) (0.1599 [Formula: see text] m [Formula: see text] 20.42) and temperature (T, K) (273.15 [Formula: see text] T [Formula: see text] 323.15). Experimental values are consistent with the reported data. Variation of isotherms of electrical conductivity, isentropic compressibility, and structural relaxation time with concentration evoke structural information on the ion solvation in aqueous ammonium nitrate solution at different concentration regions. The primary hydration numbers of ammonium nitrate were estimated at a particular concentration at which the isentropic compressibility isotherms converge. The existence of free hydrated ions, resulting from strong ion solvent interactions in dilute to 9.1 mol kg–1, the solvent-separated ion-pairs resulting from the relative competition between the ion–solvent and the ion–ion interactions in 9.1 to 12.0 mol kg–1, and the solvent-shared ion-pairs beyond 12.0 mol kg–1 resulting from a decrease in the number of solvent molecules, govern the transport process.Key words: electrical conductivity, speeds of sound, viscosity, ammonium nitrate, hydration number.