Electric conductivity of concentrated aqueous solutions of propionic acid, sodium propionate and their mixtures

Specific electric conductivity (EC) of concentrated aqueous solutions of propionic acid (PA), sodium propionate (SP), and water/PA/SP mixtures is measured in the temperature range of 15–90°C. Specific EC passes a maximum at the increase in the electrolyte concentration in the mixtures of water/PA, water/SP, and water/PA/SP containing a similar PA concentration. The maximum EC value of the aqueous PA solution at the given temperature is used as the generalizing term. It is shown that the values of reduced EC (ratio of EC and its maximum value at the given temperature) fall on a single curve in the whole studied range of temperatures and concentrations of the water/PA mixture. The EC activation energy is calculated for all the studied solutions. It is found that the EC activation energy of these solutions decreases at the temperature increase and grows at the increase of the concentration of electrolyte.