Solvation Effect Facilitates Ion Transfer across Water/1,2-Dichloroethane Interface

Ion transfer across the interface between two immiscible electrolytes can produce a Faraday current involving non-redox reactions, which is useful for both ion detection and phase-transfer catalysis. To decrease the transfer energy and improve the selectivity, artificial ligands are needed, which are usually unavailable because of the difficulty in the synthesis. Herein, we demonstrate that the solvation effect can act as the driving force for ion transfer across the micropipette-supported water/1,2-dichloroethane interface, including the anions SO42-, NO3-, NO2-, CO32-, and so forth. The thermodynamic properties are discussed, including the diffusion coefficients, Gibbs energy of ion transfer, stoichiometric ratios, and apparent association constants. Meanwhile, the research also provides a method to investigate the solvation effect.