Arrhenius put forward this ionization theory when defending his doctoral degree in 1883. Before that, he had measured the conductivity of many brine solutions more accurately. The main argument of Arrhenius ionization theory is that the electrolyte will dissociate immediately after it is dissolved, and there will always be ions in the solution whether current passes through it or not. This argument not only explains the ion migration number of Hittorff electrolyte solution and the additivity of Kohlrausch ion conduction, but also well explains the abnormal permeation observed by Toure and Van Hoff. Arrhenius thinks that only a part of weak electrolyte is electrolyzed, so the solution of these substances can be governed by the law of mass action. A Lei Wusi, who wrote such an excellent paper at such a young age, should get the highest reward according to common sense. But only the school reluctantly passed with reservations, and he himself was also denounced as an "absurd pupil".

Arrhenius, who was extremely distressed, could not get support at home, so he wrote to many famous foreign scholars to seek bosom friends, including Meyer and Mendeleev. However, it is hard to find a bosom friend, but I get a cold answer, even a mud cow into the sea, and there is no news. At this time, only one person beyond Arrhenius' expected courtesy personally rushed to Uppsala to meet Arrhenius, and this person was ostwald of Riga. Before that, ostwald was observing the strength of acid and alkali, and at the same time, he was doing research on the release of heat by acid-base neutralization. He encountered many problems, and when he was confused, he received a letter from Arrhenius, which made him realize. Ostwald and Arrhenius hit it off and established a solid friendship.

At first, people refused to accept Arrhenius ionization theory because of preconceived prejudice that ions with opposite charges could not exist independently in solution for a long time. Moreover, the conditions for correctly distinguishing atoms from ions were not available at that time. However, ostwald and Vantehoff gave enthusiastic support to Arrhenius' ionization theory. With the vigorous promotion of the two of them, the ionization theory finally became famous, and with the value of the theory itself, people almost completely accepted it. Facts have proved that this treatment is well-deserved for ionization theory.