Insights into the unexpected small reduction of the temperature of maximum density of water by lithium chloride addition

Abstract

When lithium chloride is dissolved in water under isobaric conditions, it induces a reduction in the temperature of maximum density, TMD, of water that is smaller than that observed for the other alkali chlorides. In this work, we relate this phenomenon to the pressure variation produced by salt addition under isochoric conditions. We found that the thermal insensitivity of the lithium–water interaction contribution to the pressure variation is at the origin of this unexpected small reduction in TMD.