Ionic dissociation of NaCl on frozen water

This low-energy reactive ion scattering study showed that NaCl readily dissociates to Na+ and Cl- ions on a condensed water surface. The dissociation is almost complete even at temperatures as low as 100 K and regardless of whether NaCl is placed on top of frozen water or water molecules are added over the NaCl film. The chemistry of NaCl aerosols, therefore, should involve solvated ions in the Earth's atmosphere. In contrast to the efficient solvation by water molecules which necessitates their movement at least by a few molecular lengths, Na+ hardly diffuses through frozen water, for instance, less than a distance of one bilayer of water in several minutes.