Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Vol.348, No.1, 183-188, 2010
Self-assembly in surfactant-based liquid mixtures: Bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid/bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine systems
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 PO4H and BEEA NH groups, show enhanced structural order and proton conductivity. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.