Structure-dependent dc conductivity and relaxation time in the Debye-Stokes-Einstein equation

The basis for a modification of the Debye-Stokes-Einstein (DSE) equation between the dc conductivity, sigma(dc), and dielectric relaxation time, tau, has been examined by using broad-band dielectric spectroscopy of LiClO4 solutions in 5-methyl-2-hexanol and 1-propanol and of pure liquids. According to the DSE equation, the log sigma(dc)-log tau plots should have a slope of -1. We find that sigma(dc) begins to depend upon the structure of an electrolytic solution when a variation of solvent's equilibrium dielectric permittivity, epsilon(s), with temperature causes the ion population to vary. As a consequence of this intrinsic dependence, the log sigma(dc)-log tau plots do not obey the DSE equation. Inclusion of the effect of change in epsilon(s) on the DSE equation may be useful in analyzing the measured quantities in terms of Brownian diffusion of both ions and molecules in ultraviscous liquids. Proton translocation along a hydrogen bond contributes little to sigma(dc), which appears to be predominantly determined by the ion population in the two alcohols and the solutions. The effect is briefly discussed in the potential energy landscape paradigm of structure fluctuations, and it is suggested that the high-frequency shear modulus measurements of ionic solutions would help reveal the temperature-dependent deviation from the DSE equation.