Quenching of lamellar ordering in an n-alkane embedded in nanopores
Publikationstyp
Journal Article
Date Issued
2004-02-01
Sprache
English
Journal
Volume
65
Issue
3
Start Page
351
End Page
357
Citation
Europhysics Letters 65 (3): 351-357 (2004-02-01)
Publisher DOI
Scopus ID
Publisher
EDP Sciences
We present an X-ray diffraction study of the normal alkane nonadecane C19H40 embedded in nanoporous Vycor glass. The confined molecular crystal accomplishes a close-packed structure by alignment of the rod-like molecules parallel to the pore axis while sacrificing one basic ordering principle known from the bulk state, i.e. the lamellar ordering of the molecules. Despite this disorder, the phase transitions observed in the confined solid mimic the phase behavior of the 3D unconfined crystal, though enriched by the appearance of a true rotator phase known only from longer alkane chains.
DDC Class
530: Physik