Article abstract


Nature Materials 7, 647 - 652 (2008)
Published online: 6 July 2008 | doi:10.1038/nmat2225

Subject Category: Complex fluids

Control of fluidity and miscibility of a binary liquid mixture by the liquid–liquid transition

Rei Kurita, Ken-ichiro Murata & Hajime Tanaka


Matter in its liquid state is convenient for processing and controlling chemical reactions, owing to its fluidity. Recently much evidence has been accumulated for the existence of a liquid–liquid transition (LLT) in single-component liquids. Here, we report that we can control, by the LLT of a molecular liquid, triphenyl phosphite (TPP), the fluidity and miscibility of its mixture with another molecular liquid. For a mixture of TPP with toluene or aniline, we find that both liquid I and II mix well and liquid II remains in a 'liquid' state, in contrast to pure TPP, where liquid II is a non-ergodic amorphous state. This is the first example of a 'true' LLT in a molecular liquid. Furthermore, we find demixing induced by the LLT for a mixture of TPP with diethyl ether or ethanol. These findings will open a new phase of research towards various applications of the LLT.

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  1. Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 153-8505, Japan

Correspondence to: Hajime Tanaka e-mail: tanaka@iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp



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