Mesoscopic Investigation of an “Immiscible” Cyclohexane and Water Micro-mixture in Carbon Micropores by Contrast Variation Small-angle Neutron Scattering

Abstract

Microspaces can simultaneously capture “immiscible” molecules such as cyclohexane and water due to fluid-surface interactions. We investigated the mesoscopic structure of cyclohexane and water co-adsorbed in carbon micropores using contrast variation small-angle neutron scattering (CV-SANS). The results show that cyclohexane tends to adsorb near the carbon surface and that both molecules form relatively small domains (<1 nm).