conductivity and Soluble in water

Lots. Any salt of sodium or potassium, not to mention the metals themselves.

This is a good question. Saline solutions are conductive, but will not fit in your solid state requirement, at least at ambient press and temp. Any chances to make it transform by press or temp changes? What are you trying to do? Maybe another idea arise. Maybe the solution could be a simple saline substrate or any solid water soluble covered by a thin film of metal (like those conductive paintings used on demist widows at cars). When washed out by water, the film is gone too.

Inorganic salts are often used for ionic conductivity in the earth pit and the same can be used easily as suggested by others here. However, the best performance will be only for AC conductivity and DC conductivity will be short lived and electrodes will soon get coated.

Also see this research paper on Organic Solid State conductivity possibilities

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jp071631j

Hi,

if this is for electro-chemical-machining, then try sodium nitrate,

may be ammonium nitrate (produced in large quantities as fertilizer and explosive!) is better.

Ordinary salt is used too but will corrode any metallic structures in the vicinity.

If you post here a little bit more information than any response can be more precise.

RHABE

Sodium sulphate. It's the only salt that no-one wants.

Going strictly by what you have post, I interpret your question as wanting a solid that is readily soluble in water and having a "high" conductance property--> inorganic salts.

If your conductance measurements are by DC current try to avoid salts with sodium or Potasium anions or Chloride cations, they will corrode almost every material you use for the sensing element. AC current is not as much of a problem but still a problem.

Ammonium Nitrate is a nice salt to use. Fairly high conductance, can be pressed into a cube or other shapes, readily dissolved in water, and has the unique property that when you dissolve it in water it makes the water colder. This is the basic for those plastic bag "smash" type cold packs, Ammonium Nitrate particles in an inner bag, the outside bag containing water. Break the inner bag by hitting the bag between your hands, the Ammonium Nitrate gets mixed with the water and the bag gets cold!

Ammonium Nitrate is not explosive unless mixed with fuel oil or other similar materials in the correct proportions. It is also relatively less corrosive than other salts.

General rule of thumb is that the higher molecular weight of the salt, be it inorganic or organic, the lower the conductance.

Good luck

"Ammonium Nitrate is not explosive unless mixed with fuel oil or other similar materials in the correct proportions."

Hi,

this had to be learned in a bad accident by the specialists of BASF in 1921 or 1922. This occurred at Ludwigshafen, Southern Germany.

They had a big store of ammonium-nitrate that was stored in a too humid atmosphere and got sintered to a solid mass.

Then this was drilled and some dynamite supplied to facilitate removal.

At first blow the whole storage amount of 20,000 tons blew up in (may be?) the largest conventional explosion ever.

Remaining was a hole of 500m diameter and 500plus people dead.

So ammonium-nitrate is nearly inert to initiation as an explosive but if hit by enough energy it will blow up!

Be careful with any of the nitrates, oxides, peroxides, chlorates, perchlorates!

RHABE

Ammonium Nitrate is a tertiary explosive, meaning it needs a booster to activate it and the booster is activated by something such as a blasting cap. Ammonium Nitrate is very stable at all but extreme conditions.

I am very familiar with the Texas City, TX incident. I don't know about the incident that you are referring to but Texas City happened because they tried to put a fire our in the hold of the ship with steam.

Since the poster didn't give much detail I preficed my posting to state that I was detailing based only on what he had posted, not any presumptions based on possibilities of what he might have meant. No mention was made of using a salt in such a manner that it would be possible to use it any manner as an explosive.

Ammoniun Nitrate is a safe material when handled in the manner that it is supposed to be. It can be pressed into cakes, it is readily dissolved, it has a relatively high conductance, properties that the original poster was looking for.

As for the example of instant cold packs, I think it demonstrates that Ammoniun Nitrate is stable under all but extreme conditions.

Ammonium Nitrate is not self initiating. It is so insensitive that much of the stuff does not explode when initiated. Don't walk through a construction or mining site where Ammonium Nitrate/fuel oil (ANFO) has been used and then try to pass through the detectors at an airport without cleaning your shoes by vaccuming and then washing and rinsing them well. All those little white prills are ANFO. You will have alot of explaining to do when they think you are a terrorist bomber.

http://www.bufata-chemie.de/reader/ig_farben/pics/1-4-3_01_oppau-big.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/jmollivier/image/59342295

http://www.statemaster.com/encyclopedia/Oppau-explosion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppau_explosion

Hi, thank you for the information!

some links to the Oppau accident above.

Are the detectors detecting only ANFOR or the nitrate?

The best to you

RHABE

Dol you have any constrain on the dissolution rate.

Sodal-lime silicate glass will dissolve in water if it contains sodium oxide between 15 and 25 percent by mole.

There is phosphaste glass which goes more rapidly.

Masyood

If you want high conductivity and soluble in water try Barium. It is used in medical imaging department of any hospital. A powder that mixes well with water and is know as an electrical attracting medium.

WE have barium borosilicate glass whcih dissolves in water slowly but we can change its dissolution rate based on need