Surface freezing in n-alkane solutions: The relation to bulk phases

E. Sloutskin, EB Sirota, H Kraack, BM Ocko, M. Deutsch

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Surface freezing (SF) was investigated in tricosane-dodecane alkane solutions as a function of temperature (T) and molar concentration of tricosane (φ), using surface tension and synchrotron x-ray surface diffraction techniques. A crystalline SF monolayer, having a rotator RII structure, was found to exist for 35°C<~T<~50°C and 0.3<~φ<~1. The extended temperature range allowed to determine the linear-expansion coefficient of the SF monolayer, (dd/dT)/d=6.5×10−4°C−1. A simple thermodynamical model based on the theory of ideal solutions is shown to account well for the φ dependence of the SF temperature Ts(φ). The study shows that the temperature range of existence of the surface frozen layer at each φ, the φ range over which SF is observed, and the bulk solidification behavior, are intimately related. All are determined by the rotator-liquid dissolution line TdR(φ).
Original languageAmerican English
JournalPhysical Review E (Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics)
Volume64
Issue number3
StatePublished - 1 Sep 2001

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