Assessing the solvation numbers of electrolytic ions confined in carbon nanopores under dynamic charging conditions

We propose herein a new reliable approach to assess solvation numbers of ions confined in carbon nanopores based on dynamic quartz crystal measurements. This was proved for the entire families of alkaline, alkaline-earth cations, and halogen anions. As-assessed hydration numbers appear in the sequence characteristic of a transition from the cosmotropic to a chaotropic-type behavior with the decrease of the ion's charge-to-size ratio. The information on the behavior of ions confined in nanometric space of different (especially charged) carbon materials is in high demand for the development of powerful supercapacitors, nanofiltration membranes, and chemical/biochemical sensors.