Effect of cosurfactant on ionic liquid solubilization capacity in cyclohexane/TX-100/1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate microemulsions

The effects of n-butanol as a cosurfactant on the phase behavior of cyclohexane/TX-100/[Bmim][BF4] system, especially on the [Bmim][BF4] solubilization capacity in [Bmim][BF4]/cyclohexane microemulsions, were investigated by direct visual observation, UV–vis spectrophotometry and dynamic light scatting (DLS) at 25.0 °C. The results show that n-butanol magnifies notably the [Bmim][BF4]/cyclohexane microemulsion single-phase region and increases the [Bmim][BF4] solubilization capacity in [Bmim][BF4]/cyclohexane microemulsions. A possible mechanism was proposed to make out the effect of n-butanol as a cosurfactant on the microemulsions with ionic liquid domain.