Electrical conduction in liquid air and liquid nitrogen

The electrical conduction of liquid air and liquid nitrogen has been measured in very simple diode cells. The current is found to require several minutes to increase to an equilibrium value which is then directly proportional to the electrode surface area. Selection of different electrode materials does not affect the current magnitude, and current-induced liquid motion appears to play only a minor role in the conduction process. A tentative model is proposed in which the charge carriers are assumed to be negative oxygen ions.