The structure of an aqueous solution of nickel chloride

Abstract

The method of multipattern analysis based on neutron diffraction from isotopically different samples has been applied to a 4.35 molal solution of NiCl$_2$ in D$_2$O. Seven distinct scattering patterns were obtained at a temperature of 21$^\circ$C and the particle-particle pair functions for correlations between Cl$^-$ and D$_2$O, Ni$^{2+}$ and D$_2$O, Cl$^-$ and Cl$^-$, Ni$^{2+}$ and Ni$^{2+}$ and Ni$^{2+}$ and Cl$^-$ were extracted from the data. The results are used to obtain a real-space description of the ions and their immediate environment.