Toward the thermodynamic modeling of reacting ionic mixtures

Based on the Müller–Liu entropy principle and the axioms of constitutive theory, a continuum model for reacting ionic mixtures is presented. The influence of microscopic structure on the mixture dynamics is taken into account through the thermodynamics of polar materials. Moreover, mechanical balance laws for classical mixtures under influence of electromagnetic fields and quasi-electrostatic Maxwell’s equations are briefly shown. With an appropriate constitutive model for a diluted and isotropic mixture of non-volatile solutes and by considering the same temperature field for all constituents, constraints on constitutive quantities are imposed, and the conditions for the thermodynamic equilibrium are established from the entropy principle. Furthermore, the nonlinear nature of chemical reactions as well as the reciprocal nature of some irreversible processes is highlighted. Unlike the classical approach for electrolyte solutions, the current constitutive model incorporates thermoelectric and electro-kinetic phenomena into the phenomenological equations, providing a more comprehensive approach of electrolyte solutions dynamics.