Issue 33, 2011

Confined crystallization of binary n-alkane mixtures: stabilization of a new rotator phase by enhanced surface freezing and weakened intermolecular interactions

Abstract

The present work reports the confined crystallization behaviours of binary even–even normal alkane (n-alkane) mixtures of n-octadecane (n-C18H38) and n-eicosane (n-C20H42), which are microencapsulated in monodisperse microcapsules, using the combination of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction (XRD). A new metastable rotator phase (RII) absent in the bulk state, has been detected for the n-alkane mixture in confined geometry under all the investigated compositions. Such a crossover is attributed to the lower interfacial energy due to the same in-planar hexagonal structure of the surface monolayer and RII, as well as the weakened intermolecular interaction in alkane mixtures. This is the first time that RII is found in such a binary even–even n-alkane mixture that neither of the components contains RII phase in the crystallization process. Furthermore, based on the variation of alkane molecule conformation and in-planar structure with temperature, the correlations between the phase transition temperature and composition have been discussed.

Graphical abstract: Confined crystallization of binary n-alkane mixtures: stabilization of a new rotator phase by enhanced surface freezing and weakened intermolecular interactions

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
22 Apr 2011
Accepted
22 Jun 2011
First published
26 Jul 2011

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011,13, 15031-15036

Confined crystallization of binary n-alkane mixtures: stabilization of a new rotator phase by enhanced surface freezing and weakened intermolecular interactions

D. Fu, Y. Liu, G. Liu, Y. Su and D. Wang, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2011, 13, 15031 DOI: 10.1039/C1CP21281H

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements