Fickian Diffusion in Binary Mixtures That Form Two Liquid Phases

New data on the variation of the diffusion coefficient with concentration in binary nonideal liquid mixtures are presented. The diffusion coefficients were measured with laser holography with an improved analysis procedure and are primarily in systems that form two liquid phases. The results show that for such systems the diffusion coefficient is constant if a chemical-potential driving force is used. If, however, the miscibility gap is wide, the Schreiner equation (Schreiner, 1922) is shown to be more accurate than relations that consider the variation of viscosity. Cluster theories developed for diffusion behavior near critical points were found to explain the data well only in water-organic systems on the water-rich side.