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Published on: June 24, 2013
The stability of L3 sponge phase in acidic solutions
Shilpa H Bhansali1, Abds-Sami Malik, Jessica M Jarvis
1Department of Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544-5263, USA.
Replacing NaCl with HCl in lyotropic liquid crystal synthesis, specifically the L3 sponge phase, does not alter phase stability. This confirms HCl(aq) can be used for templated silica gel formation without affecting the L3 phase region.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Colloid and Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Lyotropic liquid crystalline L3 sponge phases are synthesized using cetylpyridinium chloride, hexanol, and aqueous NaCl.
- These phases serve as templates for silica gel synthesis, requiring solvent modification to HCl for acid catalysis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To verify if replacing NaCl with HCl in the L3 sponge phase solvent affects the phase stability range.
- To confirm the suitability of HCl(aq) for templated silica gel formation.
Main Methods:
- Synthesis of the L3 sponge phase using cetylpyridinium chloride, hexanol, and aqueous solvents.
- Comparison of phase behavior in NaCl(aq) and HCl(aq) at equivalent ionic strengths.
Main Results:
- Changing the solvent from neutral NaCl(aq) to acidic HCl(aq) had a negligible effect on the L3 phase region.
- The L3 phase exhibited similar behavior in both NaCl(aq) and HCl(aq) solvents.
Conclusions:
- The stability range of the L3 sponge phase is not significantly affected by the change in solvent pH from neutral to acidic.
- HCl(aq) can be used as a solvent for L3 phase processing in templated silica gel synthesis, maintaining phase behavior equivalent to NaCl(aq).
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