Electric Conduction in Liquid Hydrocarbons. III. Comparison of Saturated and Unsaturated Hydrocarbons

Abstract

The electric conductance of aliphatic and olefinic type hydrocarbons has been determined between 25° and 65°C. both in the presence and absence of oxygen using electric fields of 50 to 1200 V/cm. Based on the observed potential distribution, the thermal activation energies, and the conductivities, it was concluded that conduction processes of the two types of compounds are distinctly different. The conduction in aliphatic hydrocarbons appears to be attributable to the presence of very low concentrations of polar impurities. Olefinic‐type hydrocarbons were found to have higher conductivities as structurally similar aliphatic compounds. Also, their thermal activation energies were consistently higher than those obtained for aliphatic compounds. This difference in behavior has been attributed to the presence of π electrons in the olefinic hydrocarbons. It is suggested that the conduction in unsaturated hydrocarbons involves an electron jumping process which is independent of the presence of trace impurities and is unavailable to saturated substances.