Phase behavior of n-butanol/n-octane/water/cationic gemini surfactant system

Phase diagrams of the n-butanol/n-octane/water/(12-3-12,2Br(-1)) system were determined, where n-octane usually represents oil (O), 12-3-12,2Br(-1) is a gemini cationic surfactant trimethylene-1,3-bis(dodecyldimethyl ammonium bromide) abbreviated as S, and n-butanol is a co-surfactant written as A. Effects of the weight ratio of gemini surfactant to cosurfactant, S/A, and of temperature on the phase behavior were studied. The microemulsion structures including O/W, bi-continuous (B.C.), W/O, and liquid crystal were determined by the conductivity method and polarization measurement. Experimental results show that the gemini surfactant, used facilitates the formation of microemulsions compared with its corresponding monomeric surfactant, n-dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB). When S/A = 1/1, and the total concentration of gemini surfactant and alcohol is 20-40%, microemulsions with higher water content can form in a wider region. When the temperature increases, the size and position of each type of microemulsion region changes notably.