The green, nonionic surfactant n-octyl-�-D-galactoside forms lyotropic liquid crystals in water. After the different liquid crystalline phases that form were identified by examining a concentration gradient under a polarizing microscope, a phase diagram was constructed using fluorescence spectroscopy and the fluorescence probe prodan. The prodan fluorescence in samples at various compositions and a range of temperatures produces a different spectrum depending on the phase due to the sensitivity of prodan emission to the polarity of its environment. Two-phase regions generated spectra consisting of a sum of the characteristic spectra of the phases present. The system was found to exhibit micellar, hexagonal, cubic, lamellar, and gel phases. The binary temperature-composition phase diagram illustrating these single-phase and multi-phase regions will be presented.

Binary phase diagram of n-octyl-β-D-galactoside in water using fluorescence spectroscopy

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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