| Abstract
| - We use a Flory−Huggins type approach to calculate the structure and the surface tension coefficient of theboundary between ionic and nonionic liquids. The mixture of ionic and nonionic liquids is treated as a “three-component” system including anions, cations, and neutral molecules. We show that if the affinities of thecations and the anions to the neutral molecules are different, the interface comprises an electric double layer.The presence of this layer (uncompensated electric field) stabilizes the interface: the field inhibits the ionssegregation at the interface and increases the surface tension. On the other hand, the short-range volumeinteractions promote the segregation and decrease the surface tension. Furthermore, the surface tensioncoefficient can be negative, if the difference of the affinities is high enough. It implies a possibility ofmicrophase separation of the system.
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