Electromechanical equilibrium in osmosis
Abstract
To apply the flux equations originating from Onsager's principle of least dissipation of energy to osmosis in permeable membranes, the membrane must be taken as the system of reference. Postulating that in an isobaric system the permeation of any particle through the membrane exerts no force on the membrane itself, a fundamental property of such a system of reference is ensured. This leads to an electromechanical equilibrium between the frictional and the electric forces in the membrane. According to Prigogine's theorem of mechanical equilibrium, chemical forces (potentials) are absent in such a relation.
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