The microstructural characteristics of primary amine N1923/n-heptane/alcoho
l/water reverse micelles have been investigated by means of the dilution me
thod and FT-IR spectroscopic and TEM techniques. Some structural parameters
have been obtained. The broad bands obtained for water, alcohol, and prima
ry amine N1923 bands have been resolved by both Gaussian and Lorentzian cur
ve-fitting programs, and the vibrational characteristics, particularly the
peak area and relative content corresponding to each peak, have been analyz
ed and assigned. It has been observed that the aqueous core of the reverse
micelle droplet is composed of bound water and bulk water while a little fr
ee water remains at the interface. The hydration number of RNH3+ increases
with the addition of water; however, it almost remains a constant under the
conditions of various alcohols with the same content of water. All that ha
s been obtained is very significant for the study of the mechanism of amine
extraction systems.