I knew while learning about electrolysis that if the ionic compound is molten it becomes free moving ions.
If that is the case, what will happen if I continued heating till it reaches the boiling point so that the ionic compound evaporates?
Will it still be free moving ions?
Also, shouldn't the result be more efficient at electrolysis than in the liquid state due to increased mobility of ions? If not, why?
Answer
Usually not. Boiling point rarely exceeds 4-5 thousands kelvin. A typical ionic bound energy is about 5 eV. 1 eV is roughly 11 thousands kelvin, so ions in low-temperature vapors are in molecules. When temperature becomes enough to break ionic molecules, it is enough to strip one-two electrons from atoms, so hight-temperature vapors will be plasma with electrons and positive ions.
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