Effect of the Ionic Liquid 1-Butyl-3-Methylimidazolium Tetrafluoroborate on the Properties of Water + Triton X-100 + Hexanol + Cyclohexane Microemulsions

Abstract

A study was carried out concerning the effects of an ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4) on the properties of nonionic surfactant-based H2O + Triton X-100 (TX-100) + hexanol + cyclohexane microemulsions. Several properties of microemulsions, such as polarity, conductivity, viscosity, and droplet size, were investigated with the mass ratio of TX-100/hexanol/cyclohexane = 3:2:7. With the addition of IL, the polarity of the microemulsions increases. Conductivity results reveal that the onset water content of electrical percolation decreases with the presence of IL and continues to decrease as the amount of IL increases. The viscosity of microemulsions increases with the increasing amount of IL. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements indicate that the droplet sizes of microemulsions increase with the addition of IL. All results presented in this study suggest that the IL is solubilized into the polar core of microemulsions.