Large-scale structure formation in ionic solution and its role in electrolysis and conductivity

PLoS One. 2019 Mar 26;14(3):e0213697. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213697. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

That water may not be an inert medium was indicated by the presence at water's interfaces a negatively charged solute free zone of several hundred microns in thickness called the exclusion zone (EZ). Further evidence was demonstrated by Ovchinnikova's experiments (2009) showing that water can store and release substantial amount of charge. We demonstrate that the charge storage capacity of water arises from highly stable large-scale ionic structures with measurable charge imbalances and discrete levels of charge density. We also show evidence that the charge zones formation requires ionic solutes, and their formation correlate to large change in conductivity, by as much as 250%. Our experiments indicate that large-scale structuring plays a pivotal role in electrolysis and conductivity in ionic solution. We propose that water is an electrochemically active medium and present a new model of electrolysis and conductivity in ionic solution.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Conductivity
  • Electrochemistry
  • Electrolysis / methods*
  • Ions / chemistry*
  • Solutions / chemistry
  • Sulfates / chemistry
  • Water / chemistry

Substances

  • Ions
  • Solutions
  • Sulfates
  • Water
  • sodium sulfate

Grants and funding

The funder Prime Oleochemicals Industries Sdn. Bhd. provided support in the form of salaries for author Dr. Luck Pheng Tan, but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of this author is articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. Additional support was received from Universiti Malaya PPP (grant no. PG209-2016A) and Quat Research Sdn. Bhd.