ISSN print edition: 0366-6352 ISSN electronic edition: 1336-9075 Registr. No.: MK SR 9/7 Published monthly

Theory of anomalous osmosis

M. Toman

Research Inst. Agrochem. Technol., Bratislava

Abstract: The equil. between a cation-exchange particle and a dil. KCl soln. is discussed in terms of the Donnan equil. There is an equil. between diffusion (osmotic) energy, elec. energy, and mech. energy (elastic energy of the resin network). Deviations from ideal osmotic behavior are due to streaming of liquid by electro.ovrddot.osmosis, and occur with membranes of permutoid character, which are not truly semipermeable. The theory of S.ovrddot.ollner (C.A. 26, 2908), which assumes that the streaming takes place in opposite directions in small and large pores of the membrane, gives the incorrect direction of streaming. The 'classification effect,' in which, e.g., Na and K accumulate on different sides of the membrane, is explained by the fact that the direction of streaming is opposite to that of elec. migration under the gradient due to the diffusion potential, so that the more mobile ions can move in an opposite direction from the less mobile ones. This is of importance in the selective absorption of ions by living cells.

Full paper in Portable Document Format: 71-2a7.pdf (in Slovak)

Chemical Papers 7 (1-2) 7–18 (1953)