Advantages and Disadvantages of Nonaqueous Electrolyte Solutions

More Advantages and Disadvantages of Nonaqueous Electrolyte Solutions 

On the other hand, the drawbacks of nonaqueous solutions include their lower conductivities and their toxicity and flammability. They need extreme purification and handling under a highly purified inert-gas atmosphere. They may not be exposed to the atmosphere because they will pick up water, which may give rise to the undesired co-deposition of hydrogen. 

The most important concentration range of conductivity studies for these electrolytes is below 10 mol dm . Their most determined enemy is water, which acts as a contaminant. If one considers that 20 ppm of water is equivalent to a 10 mol dm solution of water in a nonaqueous solvent, it is no surprise that electrochemical quantities recorded in the literature are much less precise than those for aqueous solutions. Conductivities that are said to be as precise as 1% are often 10% in the nonaqueous literature. With materials that react with water (e.g., Li and Na) the water level has to be cut to less than 0.05 ppm and kept there otherwise a monolayer of oxide forms on the metals surfaces. 

Drying of nonaqueous solutions can be carried out by various methods which include the addition of sodium, in the form of wires, or powdered solids such as barium oxide alternatively, a high potential difference between auxciliary electrodes can be used to getter the and OH ions. The quality of the nonaqueous work in electrochemistry is increasing rapidly. 

The Debye-Huckel-Onsager Theory for Nonaqueous Solutions 

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