Dielectric Relaxation of Water in Hydration Shells of Ions

Microwave spectroscopy has been used to study the dielectric properties of aqueous electrolyte solutions over a wide range of concentrations, the frequency range (7 to 25 or 7 to 120) GHz, and the temperature range (283 to 313 or 288 to 308) K. The static dielectric permittivity, dielectric relaxation time, and activation enthalpy have been calculated for 46 binary systems. General relations between dielectric relaxation parameters and structural effects in aqueous salt solutions are considered. The increase in the order of complementary structural organization for water in the bulk and hydration shells of ions gives rise to the molecular-kinetic stabilization of water and to the structure-making effect. This explains the difference between dielectric relaxation characteristics for a wide variety of electrolyte solutions. We present systematic dielectric data for aqueous electrolytes with hydrophilic and hydrophobic hydration of cations and anions. The temperature effect is also examined. On the basis of this study, new criteria for the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic hydration of ions are suggested.