A Current Look at Electron Transport in Organic Liquids

Abstract

Recent measurements of the drift mobility (μ _D ) of electrons in hydrocarbon liquids at high pressure and of the Hall mobility (μ _H ) as a function of temperature are discussed. In some highly branched alkanes μ _H ≃ μ _D , also high pressure causes μ _D to increase at 20°C. These facts are consistent with the tenet that in these liquids electrons remain quasi-free, the observed mobility being a result of scattering due in large part to density fluctuations. For normal and singly branched alkanes the mobility is determined by an equilibrium distribution of electrons between the trapped and quasi-free states. High pressure shifts this equilibrium toward the trapped state because of a volume decrease occurring on trapping. This volume change is attributed to electrostriction of the solvent by the trapped electron.