Dielectric properties of solvents and their limiting high-frequency conductivity

Abstract

The behavior of the limiting high-frequency (HF) conductivity of water, methanol, ethanol, and propanol in a wide temperature range is considered. As the temperature is increased to its critical value, the static permittivity and the dipole relaxation time of the polar solvents decrease monotonically; however, the limiting HF conductivity, which is determined by their ratio, passes through a maximum. The maximum is explained by differences in the behavior of the temperature dependences of the relative temperature coefficients (RTCs) of static permittivity and the dipole relaxation time. It is shown that the maximum on the temperature dependence of the limiting HF conductivity corresponds to the equality of the RTCs of static permittivity and the dipole relaxation time. It is noted that in the temperature range corresponding to the maximum limiting HF conductivities of water and alcohols, the temperature dependences of the ion product of water and the conductivity of the considered polar solvents and solutions of inorganic salts in them also pass through maxima.