Microregion detection of ionic liquid microemulsions

Nonaqueous ionic liquid (IL) microemulsion consisting of IL, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4), surfactant TX-100, and toluene was prepared and the phase behavior of the ternary system was investigated. Electrical conductivity measurement was used for investigating the microregions of the nonaqueous IL microemulsions. On the basis of the percolation theory, the bmimBF4-in-toluene (IL/O), bicontinuous, and toluene-in-bmimBF4 (O/IL) microregions of the microemulsions were successfully identified using insulative toluene as the titration phase. However, this method was invalid when conductive bmimBF4 acted as the titration phase. The microregions obtained by conductivity measurements were further proved by electrochemical cyclic voltammetry experiments. The results indicated that the conductivity method was feasible for identifying microstructures of the nonaqueous IL microemulsions.

Graphical abstractNonaqueous ionic liquid microemulsion consisting of 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4), TX-100, and toluene were prepared and the phase behavior was investigated. Electrical conductivity was used to identify the microregions of the microemulsion on the basis of percolation theory. The data were further proved by the experiments of cyclic voltammetry.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide