Comparison of the mobilities of negative and positive ions in nonpolar solutions.

The mobilities of organic radical ions of different molecular volumes have been determined in squalane and hexane solutions to study the influence of the ion charge sign on the ionic mobility in a weakly polar liquid. The relative mobility of geminate radical ions was measured using the method of time-resolved electric field effect in the recombination fluorescence. To determine the mobility of cations and anions separately, a trend in the value of the relative mobility was analyzed by varying the mobility of one of the geminate partners. The ratios between the mobilities of the anion and the cation of the same molecules were found to be about 1.1. It was shown that in liquid alkanes, the solvent electrostriction was the main factor determining a decrease in the mobility of an ion as compared to the parent neutral molecule. The strong dependence of the electrostrictive effect on the radius of the ionic solvation shell allows the observed difference between negative and positive charge carriers by a small but systematic difference in the effective radii of the ions to be explained.