This work is aimed at a description of the thermodynamic properties of highly concentrated aqueous solutions of nitric acid salts at 25 °C within the binding mean spherical approximation (BIMSA) theory. The predictive capability of this model was examined. First, Raman spectroscopy was used to study the proportion of associated nitric acid as a function of concentration. The corresponding apparent association constant values were compared with literature values. Besides, the BIMSA model, taking into account complex formation, was used to represent literature experimental osmotic coefficient variation with concentration. This theoretical description led to an assessment of the degree of association. The so calculated amount of associated nitric acid coincides accurately with our Raman experimental results up to a high concentration of acid.

The kinetics and mechanism of formic acid sonochemical degradation were studied at ultrasonic frequencies of 20, 200, and 607 kHz under argon atmosphere. Total yield of HCOOH sonochemical degradation increases approximately 6-8-fold when the frequency increased from 20 to 200 or to 607 kHz. At low ultrasonic frequencies, HCOOH degradation has been attributed to oxidation with OH(•) radicals from water sonolysis and to the HCOOH decarboxylation occurring at the cavitation bubble-liquid interface. With high-frequency ultrasound, the sonochemical reaction is also influenced by HCOOH dehydration. Whatever the ultrasonic frequency, the sonolysis of HCOOH yielded H(2) and CO(2) in the gas phase as well as trace amounts of oxalic acid and formaldehyde in the liquid phase. However, CO and CH(4) formations were only detected under high-frequency ultrasound. The most striking difference between low-frequency and high-frequency ultrasound is that the sonolysis of HCOOH at high ultrasonic frequencies initiates Fischer-Tropsch hydrogenation of carbon monoxide.

In this study, speciation in aqueous solutions of nitric acid at 25 °C was assessed in two independent ways. First, Raman experiments were carried out and interpreted in terms of free nitrate ions, ion pairs and neutral HNO(3) molecules. In parallel, a model was developed to account for the formation of these two kinds of pairs. It was based on an extension of the binding mean spherical approximation (BiMSA), or associative MSA (AMSA), in which the size and the charge of the ions in the chemical pair may differ from those of the free ions. A simultaneous fit of the osmotic coefficient and of the proportion of free ions (obtained from Raman spectroscopy experiments) led to an estimation of the speciation in nitric acid solutions. The result obtained using this procedure was compared with the estimation obtained from the Raman experiments.

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International audienc

International audienc

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