An NMR self-diffusion investigation of water/xylene/alkyl amine solutions

Abstract

Extensions of the solution phases have been determined and the self-diffusion behaviour investigated in ternary systems containing water/xylene/primary alkyl amine, where the chain length of the amine varied between C₆ and C₁₀. The phase diagrams at 25°C are dominated by a solution phase and a rather large water/xylene miscibility gap which increases slightly in size with increasing chain length of the amine. A lamellar liquid crystalline phase was found in all binary amine/water systems at 25°C, except for hexylamine where the lamellar phase melts below this temperature. The self-diffusion coefficients of all components decrease in a similar way when water is added to a xylene/amine solution. The self-diffusion is rapid and of similar magnitude for all components, which shows that no well-defined inverse aggregates are formed. The data are discussed in terms of hydrogen bonding between the different species in the solution.