Formation and characteristics of aqueous two-phase systems formed by a cationic surfactant and a series of ionic liquids

• Ionic liquids and cation surfactant can form aqueous two-phase systems with water.
• The phase behavior of new ATPS was systematically studied.
• The ATPS formation is mainly induced by the different aggregates.
• The extraction capacity of the ATPS is evaluated by the extraction of biosubstances.

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) were obtained in the aqueous mixtures of a cationic surfactant and a series of ionic liquids (ILs). The effects of IL structure, temperature and additives on the phase separation were systematically investigated. The microstructures of some ATPS were observed by freeze-fracture replication technique. Lyotropic liquid crystal was found in the bottom phase besides micelles under different conditions. Remarkably, both IL structure and additives profoundly affected the formation and properties of the ATPSs. The phase separation can be attributed to the existence of different aggregates and the cation-π interactions of the cationic surfactant with the ILs, which has a significant role in the formation of ATPS. The extraction capacity of the studied ATPS was also evaluated through their application in the extraction of two biosubstances. The results indicate that the ILs with BF4− as anion show much better extraction efficiencies than the corresponding ILs with Br− as anion do under the same conditions. l-Tryptophan was mainly distributed into the NPTAB-rich phase, while methylene blue and capsochrome were mainly in the IL-rich phase.