Phase separation temperatures of a liquid mixture: Dynamic light scattering technique

Light scattering intensity measurements and photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS) techniques were employed in an investigation of liquid–liquid phase separation behaviour of a mixture of cyclohexane and methanol at seven different compositions. It was found that, except for one composition (29% methanol), the temperature at which the scattering intensity was a maximum did not coincide with the one where the diffusion coefficient was a minimum, as would be for the case of a vapour–liquid system. The difference may be explained in terms of the local density fluctuation and the random walk problem responsible for the peak intensity and the minimum in the diffusion coefficient, respectively. The definition of phase separation temperature, as determined from diffusion process, was also proposed in this work.