Coulomb interionic attraction energy

The energy dissipation of a system containing free charges subjected to electric fields Is well known but this Indicates a non-equilibrium situation and as a result a thermodyanmlc description of the FDE Is Impossible. Within the framework of interionic attraction theory Onsager was able to derive the effect of an electric field on the Ionic dissociation from the transport properties of the Ions In the combined coulomb and external fields (2). It is not improper to mention here the notorious mathematical difficulty of Onsager s paper on the second Wien effect. 

The above calculation applies to independent sodium and fluoride ions, and does not take into account the electrostatic attraction between the oppositely charged ions, nor the repulsive force which operates at small interionic distances. In the crystal of NaF the distance of nearest approach of the sodium and fluoride ions is 231 pm, and Coulomb s law may be used to calculate the energy of stabilization due to electrostatic attraction between individual ion pairs ... 

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