Interfacial tension between benzene and water in the presence of caprolactam

Abstract

We studied the physical properties and the concentration profile of benzene + water + caprolactam mixtures near the fluid–fluid interface using self-consistent field (SCF) theory. This yields the interfacial tension which plays an important role in describing the stability of transient liquid droplets of one phase in the other. The studies were performed at a fixed temperature of 313 K. Flory–Huggins binary interaction parameters and the compound lattice segment numbers are input parameters for the applied SCF theory. These parameters were derived from activity coefficient relations, which are used to describe experimental liquid–liquid and vapor–liquid phase equilibrium measurements. Using first principles, the benzene–water interface was studied and the resulting interfacial tension was found to be in agreement with experimental values. This study illustrates that caprolactam accumulates at the benzene– water interface, acting as a weak surfactant. The interfacial tension is also demonstrated to be affected by the caprolactam concentration and the SCF results are in fair agreement with the experimental observations.