Ion Pair in Extreme Aqueous Environments, Molecular-Based and Electric Conductance Approaches

Abstract

We determine by molecular-based simulation the density profiles of the Na+!Cl! ion-pair association constant in steam environments along three supercritical isotherms to interrogate the behavior of ion speciation in dilute aqueous solutions at extreme conditions. Moreover, we describe a new ultra-sensitive flow-through electric conductance apparatus designed to bridge the gap between the currently lowest steam-density conditions at which we are experimentally able to attain electric conductance measurements and the theoretically-reachable zero-density limit. Finally, we highlight important modeling challenges encountered near the zero-density limit and discuss ways to overcome them.