Direct imaging of long-range concentration fluctuations in a ternary mixture

We used a direct imaging technique to investigate concentration fluctuations enhanced by thermal fluctuations in a ternary mixture of methanol (Me), cyclohexane (C), and partially deuterated cyclohexane (C*) within 1mK above its consolute critical point. The experimental setup used a low-coherence white-light source and a red filter to visualize fluctuation images. The red-filtered images were analyzed off-line using a differential dynamic microscopy algorithm that allowed us to determine the correlation time, τ, of concentration fluctuations. From τ, we determined the mutual mass diffusion coefficient, D, very near and above the critical point of Me-CC* mixtures. We also numerically estimated both the background and critical contributions to D and compared the results against our experimental values determined from τ. We found that the experimental value of D is close to the prediction based on Stokes-Einstein diffusion law with Kawasaki's correction.