ELECTRICAL CONDUCTANCE OF PROTEIN SOLUTIONS

The electrical conductance of suspensions of styrene divinylbenzene copolymer micro beads and of micro-glass rods in NaCl solutions agrees fairly closely with the Maxwell and Fricke equations. However, it has been found that an empirical equation describes the experimental results more accurately. The intrinsic resistivity of a suspension is defined as (1 - R1/R)/C, where R1 is the resistivity of the dispersion medium and R that of the suspension; C is the concentration of the particles in grams per milliliter. The intrinsic resistivity of egg albumin solutions is independent of protein concentration, of salt concentration, of the frequency within wide limits, and of the amplitude of the alternating current. It is slightly dependent on the nature of the electrolyte. Instrinsic resistivities of bovine methemoglobin, of bovine fibrinogen, of sperm whale myoglobin, and of bovine serum albumin have also been determined. The intrinsic resistivities of all the proteins are remarkably close together with an average value of 2.06. © 1969.