title: Studies on the micropolarities of bmimBF4/TX-100/toluene ionic liquid microemulsions and their behaviors characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy.
abstract: Ionic liquids (ILs), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (bmimBF4), were substituted for polar water and formed nonaqueous microemulsions with toluene by the aid of nonionic surfactant TX-100. The phase behavior of the ternary system was investigated, and microregions of bmimBF4-in-toluene (IL/O), bicontinuous, and toluene-in-bmimBF4 (O/IL) were identified by traditional electrical conductivity measurements. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) revealed the formation of the IL microemulsions. The micropolarities of the IL/O microemulsions were investigated by the UV-vis spectroscopy using the methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) as absorption probes. The results indicated that the polarity of the IL/O microemulsion increased only before the IL pools were formed, whereas a relatively fixed polar microenvironment was obtained in the IL pools of the microemulsions. Moreover, UV-vis spectroscopy has also shown that ionic salt compounds such as Ni(NO3)2, CoCl2, CuCl2, and biochemical reagent riboflavin could be solubilized into the IL/O microemulsion droplets, indicating that the IL/O microemulsions have potential application in the production of metallic or semiconductor nanomaterials, and in biological extractions or as solvents for enzymatic reactions. The IL/O microemulsions may have some expected effects due to the unique features of ILs and microemulsions.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Colloid and Interface Chemistry, Shandong University, Ministry of Education, Jinan 250100, China.
authors.forename: Na
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yan'an
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Liqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Jin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Xinwei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li