title: Resolving the mystery of aqueous solutions of tertiary butyl alcohol.
abstract: We have resolved a long-standing issue in the discussion on the origin of the mesoscale inhomogeneities observed in aqueous solutions of tertiary butyl alcohol (TBA). We have shown that the formation of stable mesoscale particles (of about 100 nm in size) can be triggered by the addition of trace amounts of propylene oxide (an impurity expected to be present in all commercial samples of TBA) to a solution, which was previously filtered at a low temperature to remove these inhomogeneities. We hypothesize that these particles are aggregates of mixed clathrate-hydrates that are formed through the stabilization of fluctuations of the intrinsic structure in TBA aqueous solutions by the clathrate-forming ability of propylene oxide.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors.forename: Deepa
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Subramanian
authors.forename: Mikhail A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Anisimov