Experimental
equilibrium data were obtained for aqueous two-phase
systems composed of polyethylene glycol 400 g·mol–1 + sodium phosphate, and polyethylene glycol 400 g·mol–1 + sodium citrate, at T = (298.2, 308.2 and 318.2)
K. For the system formed by sodium phosphate, at the studied range,
the temperature effect on the position of the binodal curves was not
relevant. For the system composed of sodium citrate, the temperature
increase caused an expansion of the biphasic region. The efficacy
of the salts in inducing phase segregation follows the order sodium
phosphate > sodium citrate at temperatures of (298.2 and 308.2)
K.
Energy interaction parameters for the NRTL and UNIQUAC models were
estimated, and the mean deviations between experimental and calculated
compositions were 0.46 % and 0.32 %, respectively. These results show
that both models, NRTL and UNIQUAC, are able to represent the phase
behavior of polymer–salt aqueous two-phase systems evaluated.