Phase Behavior for the Aqueous Two-Phase Systems Containing Tetrabutylammonium bromide and Kosmotropic Salts

Aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) are biphasic systems composed mainly by water. This kind of systems have been successfully applied for the separation of different kinds of solutes, such as metal ions [۱], proteins, DNA and RNA [۲], cells or viruses.In recent years, considerable interest has arisen concerning the behavior of tetraalkylammonium salts in aqueous solution, particularly with regard to their anomalous thermodynamic behavior, hydration, and apparent structure-promoting influence in water. So far, many thermodynamic and spectroscopic studies have indicated the concept of "structure maker" appropriate for a tetrabutylammonium bromide (TBAB) ion. Lee et al. [۳] determined the liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) behavior of TBAB, benzene, and water mixture. However, data for the phase diagram of the TBAB + salt + water systems have not been reported at present. In this work, we reported LLE data for the TBAB+ kosmotropic salts (Na۳PO۴, Na۲CO۳, Na۲SO۴, NaH۲PO۴, Na۲HPO۴ and Na۳-citrate) ATPSs

Keywords:

Aqueous two-phase , Tetraalkylammonium ions , liquid-liquid equilibrium , kosmotropic salts