Liquid Metals, Molten Salts, and Ionic Liquids: Some Basic Properties

Abstract

In the second chapter, some basic concepts of statistical thermodynamics of liquids and of the nearly free electron model are introduced including quantities such as the pair distribution function g(r), the structure factor S(q), and the dielectric function of electronic screening. This is followed by a more detailed description of intermolecular potentials and microscopic structures of liquid metals, molten salts, and ionic liquids, both their theoretical foundation and experimental determination. A summary of the bulk phase behaviour of Coulombic fluids with emphasis on the liquid range is given. Specific thermodynamic characteristics such as undercooling, the vapour pressures of ionic liquids, or their criticality in binary mixtures are discussed. The mechanisms of electronic and ionic transport are briefly described. In the final section on interfacial characteristics, a few fundamental relations such as the Gibbs adsorption equation and the basic equations of wetting and electrowettting together with the scenario of wetting transitions are introduced. Furthermore, topics such as the stratification at liquid metal/vapour interfaces and charge ordering at electrified liquid/solid interfaces of molten salts and ionic liquids are presented. All sections contain tables with representative numbers for the properties considered.