Spontaneous Emulsification and Phase Equilibria in the System Water, Ethanol, and Benzene

Abstract

A layer of a water/ethanol/benzene solution, with a composition close to the plait point in the system water/benzene/ethanol, was slowly applied on top of a layer of water of the same dimension avoiding mixing. Immediate spontaneous emulsification was observed in both phases, but most extensively in the aqueous phase. The increase in aqueous phase volume during this initial emulsification stage was significantly less than that, which occurred during a second stage lasting several days of individual transfer of compounds between the layers, with little additional emulsification, The calculated diffusion path for the initial stage of this experiment was consistent with the observation of the emulsification and provided insight on the relative magnitudes of fluxes and the directions of transport of each compound in each phase.

Keywords:

• Diffusion
• phase diagrams
• spontaneous emulsification
• the system water/ethanol/benzene

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jenny An for her contributions to the diffusion calculations, Mr Taher Safareni for his valuable help in taking photos for the samples, and the Hamdi Mango Center for Scientific Research for laboratory facilities and a conducive working environment.