Measurement and interpretation of the electrical conductivity of 1-alcohols from 273 K to 333 K.

We present measurements of the electrical conductivity of 1-alcohols from methanol to pentanol, and for temperatures ranging from 273 K to 333 K. The measured data strongly differ from those previously published decades ago, but ours seem much more coherent. We have explained the measured data by using a simple theoretical model, known as Walden's rule, originally developed to explain the electrical conductivity in low concentrate electrolytic solutions. Its comparison with the experimental data shows a good agreement, so for the electrical conductivity dependence on the length of the 1-alcohol chain, as for their temperature dependence. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.