Ternary phase diagram of phenanthrene and carbazole in different solvents and its application in the separation of them

Abstract The separation of phenanthrene (PHE) and carbazole (CAR) has been a tough job since the formation of solid solutions. Development of new separation strategy for PHE-CAR mixture highly depends on their phase equilibrium behaviour. In this work, ternary phase diagrams of phenanthrene (PHE) and carbazole (CAR) in dimethylformamide (DMF), acetone, acetonitrile (MeCN) and toluene at T  = 308.15 K under normal atmosphere were determined through wet residue method. It was found that PHE-rich solid solution α was formed in the particular composition range of PHE-end. On the contrary, no CAR-rich solid solution was formed in CAR-end. These results were further verified through powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Based on the ternary phase diagrams, a difference coefficient of solubility ( Ds ) was put forward to assist screening and evaluation of solvents for solution crystallization. Among the four tested solvents, toluene is the most suitable one for separating PHE-CAR mixture.