Mixing oil and water with ionic liquids: bicontinuous microemulsions under confinement.

Kim, Hojun; Han, Mengwei; Bandara, Sarith R; Espinosa-Marzal, Rosa M; Leal, Cecilia · Soft Matter · 2019

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

We report the structural transition of a phosphonium ionic liquid-based microemulsion from the bulk to nanoconfined between atomically flat micas. Upon the nanoconfinement, we observed a firmly surface-adsorbed ionic liquid film that stabilizes the nanoconfined microemulsion. Further confinement (<11 nm) induces rearrangements in the microemulsion culminating into two well-ordered layers with slow dynamics.