Electrical conductivity of electrolytes

[Externet]

Hello.
Liquids and liquid electrolytes of many compositions have more or less electrical conductivity.
Is the conductivity preserved if the electrolyte freezes ?  -Say for a simple solution of sodium chloride-

 

 

[exchemist]

11 hours ago, Externet said:

Hello.
Liquids and liquid electrolytes of many compositions have more or less electrical conductivity.
Is the conductivity preserved if the electrolyte freezes ?  -Say for a simple solution of sodium chloride-

 

 

It will go down, i.e. the resistivity will go up, but it won't cease to conduct entirely. I would expect freezing of salt solutions usually to involve forming separate crystals of water and of the salt, because those are the most thermodynamically stable structures. Until that process is complete I imagine there could be pockets of concentrated salt solution that would support conduction. Once everything is solid, I would expect the conductivity to be determined by the rate at which charge carrying ions can migrate through the crystal structures. This won't be zero but it would I think be a lot harder than in solution, because it is likely to be determined mainly by crystal defects and inclusions of solute ions, which always happens to some degree. So the resistivity would go up considerably.

But I don't have a reference for this, it's just what I would expect to happen. Maybe someone else knows more.