(10C) was purchased
from Alfa Aesar. Sodium nitrite (NaNO2), sodium bromide
(NaBr), sodium bromate (NaBrO3), magnesium chloride (MgCl2), calcium chloride (CaCl2), iron(III) chloride
(FeCl3), and zinc(II) chloride (ZnCl2) were
purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Potassium carbonate (K2CO3) was purchased from J.T. Baker. Potassium phosphate tribasic
(K3PO4) was purchased from Acros. Nematic liquid-crystal
4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) was purchased from Tokyo Chemical
Industry. 4-(Decyloxy)aniline (10CO) and decyl 4-aminobenzoate (10CBA)
were synthesized following the previous reports and identified through
the 1H NMR spectrum collected in the
obtained from a Milli-Q system (Millipore). Real water samples, i.e.,
tap water and pond water, were collected in the campus of Tamkang
University. A Bruker AC-300 FT-NMR spectrometer was used to record
the NMR spectra.