Published Paper Details:

Ultrasonic speeds in and isentropic compressibilities of a liquid is fundamentally related to binding forces between the atoms or molecules. The measurements of ultrasonic velocity have been adequately employed in understanding the nature of molecular interaction in pure liquids, binary and ternary mixtures. In this research paper we have studied the effect of aqueous solutions of Water + acetonitrile (AN) + t-butanol at 298.15 K. The concentrations of t-butanol at which ultrasonic speed becomes maximum and isentropic compressibility becomes minimum are found to decrease with increase in the concentration of acetonitrile in the cosolvent (Aqueous acetonitrile). This behaviour indicates that the aqueous ternary solutions are less structured than aqueous t-butanol. This behaviour is explained as due to a decrease in the ability of t-butanol to form clathrate hydrates owing to the presence of acetonitrile. When the concentration of acetonitrile in the cosolvent (xAN) > 0.1015, ultrasonic speed decreases and isentropic compressibility increases with concentration of t-butanol indicating that the ternary solution behaving as normal solution. Further addition of acetonitrile or t-butanol leads to destabilization of the hydrogen bonded structure of water and t-butanol looses its ability to form clathrate hydrates in aqueous solutions.