A study of the high field conductance of some uranyl ion solutions

Measurements of the pH, low and high field conductances have been made for solutions of uranyl nitrate, perchlorate, sulfate and fluoride over a temperature range from 5 to 65°. It was found that solutions of uranyl nitrate and perchlorate exhibit a decrease of conductance with increasing field, or a ‘negative’ Wien effect, a phenomenon not heretofore observed. All these solutions behave as a system of hydrolytic products involved in a complex competitive assemblage of equilibria, in agreement with other experimental work. Theoretical calculations have been performed with which to compare the experimental results. The following three figures depict the experimental results on the nitrate and perchlorate and a comparison with the behavior of the two other uranyl compounds at 25°. It is suggested that a possible explanation of the decrease in conductance with increase in field may be found in the reversal by the field of the equilibrium.