Water Activities, Osmotic and Activity Coefficients and Some Correlation of Aqueous Mixtures of Alkaline-Earth and Ammonium Nitrates, NH4NO3-Y(NO3)2-H2O with Y ≡ Ba2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ at T = 25 °C

Abstract

The thermodynamic properties of the mixed aqueous electrolyte of ammonium and alkaline earth metal nitrates have been studied using the hygrometric method at 25 °C. The water activities of these {yNH4NO3+(1−y)Y(NO3)2}(aq) systems with Y ≡ Ba2+, Mg2+ and Ca2+ were measured at total molalities ranging from 0.10 mol⋅kg−1 to saturation for different NH4NO3 ionic-strength fractions of y=0.20, 0.50 and 0.80. These data allow the calculation of osmotic coefficients. From these measurements, the ionic mixing parameters are determined and used to calculate the solute activity coefficients in the mixtures at different ionic-strength fractions. The results of these ternary solution measurements are compared with those for binary solutions of the alkaline earth nitrates of magnesium, calcium and barium with ammonium nitrates. The behavior of the aqueous electrolyte solutions containing mixtures of barium or calcium or magnesium with ammonium nitrates are correlated and show that ionic interactions are more important for the system containing Mg2+ than for Ca2+ or Ba2+. The trends are mainly due to the effects of the ionic size, polarizability and the hydration of the ions in these solutions.