ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Phase Separation in Toluene/t-Butanol Mixtures Induced by Silica Confinement

Abstract: Confinement can dramatically alter the behaviour of molecular mixtures, leading to phenomena not observed in bulk systems. One striking example is the reported phase separation of toluene and tert-butyl alcohol mixtures when confined within porous silica, despite their full miscibility in the bulk. While previous neutron scattering studies have provided initial insight, they were limited to a narrow scattering range (0.13?1.8 Å?¹), primarily capturing structural features on larger length scales. In this study, we propose to extend the investigation across a much broader Q-range (0.02?50 Å?¹), enabling access to both large-scale organisation and molecular-level interactions. This comprehensive approach will allow us to resolve how confinement influences hydrogen bonding, molecular association, and spatial segregation?ultimately shedding light on the mechanisms driving confinement-induced phase separation in this system.

Principal Investigator: Dr Marta Falkowska
Experimenter: Mr Ivan Klassen
Experimenter: Dr Daniel Bowron
Experimenter: Professor Chris Hardacre
Local Contact: Dr Tristan Youngs
Experimenter: Miss Salma Eldessouky
Experimenter: Mr Blaise Durham

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520631

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2520631

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Marta Falkowska et al; (2026): Phase Separation in Toluene/t-Butanol Mixtures Induced by Silica Confinement, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2520631

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.