Self-assembly in surfactant-based liquid mixtures: bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid/bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine systems

Pietro Calandra; Angela Ruggirello; Andrea Mele; Vincenzo Turco Liveri

doi:10.1016/j.jcis.2010.04.031

Self-assembly in surfactant-based liquid mixtures: bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid/bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine systems

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2010 Aug 1;348(1):183-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jcis.2010.04.031. Epub 2010 Apr 18.

Authors

Pietro Calandra¹, Angela Ruggirello, Andrea Mele, Vincenzo Turco Liveri

Affiliation

¹ IPCF, Istituto per i Processi Chimico-Fisici, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche-Sez di Messina, Via Ferdinando Stagno d'Alcontres 37, 98158 Messina, Italy. calandra@me.cnr.it

PMID: 20466383
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcis.2010.04.031

Abstract

Surfactant-based liquid mixtures constitute an interesting class of nanostructured materials with promising potential in specialized applications. Here, structural and conductometric properties of liquid mixtures composed of bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine (BEEA) and bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid (HDEHP) have been thoroughly investigated with the aim to correlate structural features with system charge transport capability. The evolution of self-assembled local nanostructures with system composition has been investigated by FT-IR and XRD while the conductometric properties were probed by conventional AC complex impedance. Both pure components exhibit nano-segregation due to their amphiphilic nature but with only very low proton conductivities. However their mixtures, characterized by local organization of polar and apolar domains driven by acid-base interactions between HDEHP PO(4)H and BEEA NH groups, show enhanced structural order and proton conductivity.