Dielectric analysis of micelles and microemulsions formed in a hydrophilic ionic liquid. I. Interaction and percolation.

Dielectric measurements were carried out on binary mixtures of Triton X-100 (TX-100, a nonionic surfactant with a polyoxyethylene chain) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([bmim][BF(4)], a hydrophilic ionic liquid), and [bmim][BF(4)]/TX-100/cyclohexane microemulsions in a wide frequency range to study the molecular interaction and percolation in these systems. Striking dielectric relaxations were observed, and the dc conductivity data were obtained from the measured total dielectric loss spectra. The interaction between TX-100 and [bmim][BF(4)] is estimated by analyzing the dc conductivity of TX-100/[bmim][BF(4)] solutions in light of the Bruggeman's effective medium approximation, which indicates that spherical micelles are formed when the TX-100 volume fraction is below 48% and the number of cations associated with every TX-100 molecule is eight. For IL-oil microemulsions, both the dependence of dc conductivity and the permittivity (for fixed frequency) on cyclohexane concentration were used to identify the oil-in-IL, bicontinuous, and IL-in-oil microregions. Both the conduction and dielectric relaxation behavior suggest that a static percolation occurs in this hydrophilic IL microemulsion.