Ionic transport in glycerol-water mixtures

Glycerol-water mixtures have been extensively studied in the past several years. One of the most used techniques to study such mixtures is dielectric spectroscopy. Here, we use it to explore the range of low frequencies. This for two main reasons: (i) although electrode polarization, occurring at frequencies below 1 kHz, is normally considered as a geometrical non-desirable effect, a detailed study of how it behaves with temperature and concentration has not been pursued, and (ii) this is the interval where the transport of ions takes place in biological cells. We found that even when the viscosity of the glycerol-water mixture is large, charge transport occurs. Our aim is to relate such results with the transport of ions in organisms that come out from hibernation.