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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Phase Diagram Characterization Using Magnetic Beads as Liquid Carriers

Phase Diagram Characterization Using Magnetic Beads as Liquid Carriers

Published on: September 4, 2015

Three-phase separation in nonionic surfactant/hydrophobically modified polymer aqueous mixtures.

Guangqiang Zhao¹, Shing Bor Chen

¹Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117576, Republic of Singapore.

Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids

|August 28, 2007

Summary

Hydrophobically modified hydroxyethyl cellulose and surfactants like Triton X-100 can create three distinct liquid phases. Polymer concentration controls the cloudy phase, while surfactant concentration dictates the bluish phase volume.

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Area of Science:

Colloid and Surface Science
Polymer Chemistry
Solution Behavior

Background:

Surfactants like Triton X-100 and Triton X-114 exhibit cloud point behavior.
Hydrophobically modified polymers can alter solution properties.
Understanding complex phase behavior is crucial for material science applications.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the three-phase separation of surfactant solutions with added hydrophobically modified hydroxyethyl cellulose.
To determine the influence of polymer and surfactant concentrations on phase formation and volume.
To elucidate the underlying mechanisms driving the observed phase separation.

Main Methods:

Experimental investigation of Triton X-114 and Triton X-100 solutions.
Addition of hydrophobically modified hydroxyethyl cellulose to induce phase separation.
Macroscopic phase observation and composition analysis.

Main Results:

Solutions separated into clear, cloudy, and bluish phases above the cloud point at sufficient surfactant concentrations.
Phase separation rate was observed to be slow.
Cloudy phase volume fraction correlated linearly with polymer concentration; bluish phase volume fraction correlated linearly with surfactant concentration.

Conclusions:

The observed three-phase behavior is driven by both associative and segregative phase separation mechanisms.
Polymers predominantly partition to the cloudy phase, while surfactants concentrate in the bluish phase.
This study provides insights into complex fluid phase behavior controlled by polymer-surfactant interactions.