Brillouin-scattering study of propylene carbonate: an evaluation of phenomenological and mode coupling analyses

Absorption of pressurized methane in normal and supercooled p-xylene revealed via high-resolution neutron imaging

Supercooling of liquids leads to peculiarities which are scarcely studied under high-pressure conditions. Here, we report the surface tension, solubility, diffusivity, and partial molar volume for normal and supercooled liquid solutions of methane with p-xylene. Liquid bodies of perdeuterated p-xylene (p-C₈D₁₀), and, for comparison, o-xylene (o-C₈D₁₀), were exposed to pressurized methane (CH₄, up to 101 bar) at temperatures ranging 7.0-30.0 °C and observed at high spatial resolution (pixel size 20.3 μm) using a non-tactile neutron imaging method. Supercooling led to the increase of diffusivity and partial molar volume of methane. Solubility and surface tension were insensitive to supercooling, the latter substantially depended on methane pressure. Overall, neutron imaging enabled to reveal and quantify multiple phenomena occurring in supercooled liquid p-xylene solutions of methane under pressures relevant to the freeze-out in the production of liquefied natural gas.

Decoupling between the Temperature-Dependent Structural Relaxation and Shear Viscosity of Concentrated Lithium Electrolyte

The intermediate scattering functions of concentrated solutions of LiPF₆ in propylene carbonate (PC) were measured at various temperatures, two different wavenumbers, and three different concentrations using neutron spin echo (NSE) spectroscopy. The temperature dependence of the relaxation time was larger than that of the steady-state shear viscosity in all cases. The shear relaxation spectra were also determined at different temperatures. The normalized spectra reduced to a master curve when the frequency was multiplied by the steady-state shear viscosity, indicating that the temperature dependence of the steady-state shear viscosity can be explained by that of the relaxation time of the shear stress. It is thus suggested that the dynamics of the shear stress is decoupled from the structural dynamics on the molecular scale.

Universal and non-universal features of the dynamic susceptibility of supercooled liquids

We discuss the dynamics of the glass-forming liquids glycerol, propylene carbonate, and benzophenone, as revealed in their dielectric behaviour and in depolarized light scattering (DLS) data. Above the melting point, the liquids exhibit two-step stretched relaxation behaviour typical of 'glassy dynamics' at all attainable temperatures [Formula: see text]. There is no sign of a transition to exponential relaxation; rather, the stretching depends only weakly on the temperature. The spectral change, in first approximation, amounts to shifting the α-relaxation peak with the temperature. This behaviour is in contrast with the temperature-dependent spectral shapes observed in the low-temperature state close to T(g). Analysing corresponding dielectric spectroscopic (DS) data for comparisons, similar tendencies are observed, except that the stretching parameters are different. Below a certain temperature in glycerol, the tail of the excess wing, which is clearly pronounced in the DS data, appears also in the DLS spectra, with the same ratio of the wing exponents in DLS versus DS as of the stretching exponents at higher T. In propylene carbonate, the presence of a wing in the DLS data is not immediately obvious. However, its low-temperature DLS spectra are fully compatible with an empirical model for the temperature-dependent spectral shape that adequately describes the DS data of both materials and includes the wing. We were however unable to reconcile the DLS results of glycerol with this model. This, together with the pronounced difference in DLS and DS spectral widths of glycerol, cast doubts over the general validity of universal scaling procedures for different techniques.

Cole-Cole law for critical dynamics in glass-forming liquids

Within the mode-coupling theory (MCT) for glassy dynamics, the asymptotic low-frequency expansions for the dynamical susceptibilities at critical points are compared to the expansions for the dynamic moduli; this shows that the convergence properties of the two expansions can be quite different. In some parameter regions, the leading-order expansion formula for the modulus describes the solutions of the MCT equations of motion outside the transient regime successfully; at the same time, the leading- and next-to-leading-order expansion formulas for the susceptibility fail. In these cases, one can derive a Cole-Cole law for the susceptibilities; and this law accounts for the dynamics for frequencies below the band of microscopic excitations and above the high-frequency part of the alpha peak. It is shown that this scenario explains the optical-Kerr-effect data measured for salol and benzophenone (BZP). For BZP it is inferred that the depolarized light-scattering spectra exhibit a wing for the alpha peak within the Gigahertz band. This wing results from the crossover of the von Schweidler law part of the alpha peak to the high-frequency part of the Cole-Cole peak; and this crossover can be described quantitatively by the leading-order formulas of MCT for the modulus.

The dynamic susceptibility in glass forming molecular liquids: The search for universal relaxation patterns II

The susceptibility spectra of ten molecular glass formers are completely interpolated by an extension of the generalized gamma distribution of correlation times. The data cover at least 15 decades in frequency and the interpolation includes both alpha peak and excess wing. It is shown that the line shape parameters and the time constant of the alpha relaxation are related to each other. Master curves are identified by a scaling procedure that involves only three parameters, namely, the glass transition temperature T(g), the fragility m, and the excess wing exponent at T(g). This holds independent of whether a further secondary relaxation peak is present or not. Above a crossover temperature T(x) this unique evolution of the line shape parameters breaks down, and a crossover to a simple peak susceptibility without excess wing is observed. Here, the frequency-temperature superposition principle holds in good approximation up to temperatures well above the melting point. It turns out that the crossover coincides with the temperature at which the low-temperature Vogel-Fulcher law starts to fail upon heating. Thus, the so-called Stickel temperature gets a more physical meaning as it marks a qualitative change in the evolution of the susceptibility spectra of glass formers. Moreover, the interrelation of the line shape parameters can explain why the "Nagel scaling" works in some approximation. Our study demonstrates that the excess wing in molecular glass formers is a secondary relaxation, which is linked to the alpha process in a unique way.

A new interpretation of dielectric data in molecular glass formers

Literature dielectric data of glycerol, propylene carbonate, and ortho-terphenyl show that the measured dielectric relaxation is a decade faster than the Debye expectation but still a decade slower than the breakdown of the shear modulus. From a comparison of time scales, the dielectric relaxation seems to be due to a process which relaxes not only the molecular orientation but also the entropy, the short range order, and the density. On the basis of this finding, we propose an alternative to the Gemant-DiMarzio-Bishop extension of the Debye picture.

Brillouin scattering study of salol: exploring the effects of rotation-translation coupling

Brillouin scattering in liquids composed of optically and mechanically anisotropic molecules is affected by coupling between rotational and translational dynamics. While this effect has been extensively studied in depolarized (VH) scattering where it produces the "Rytov dip," recent theoretical analyses by Pick, Franosch show that it should also produce observable effects in polarized (VV) scattering [Eur. Phys. J. B 31, 217 (2003)]; 31, 229 (2003)]]. To test this theory, we carried out Brillouin scattering studies of the molecular glassformer salol in the temperature range 210-380 K, including VH-backscattering, VH-90 degrees, and VV-90 degrees spectra. The data were analyzed consistently to determine the effects of rotation-translation coupling on both the polarized and depolarized spectra. A previously unanticipated feature predicted by these authors was observed: a narrow negative region in the q -dependent part of the 90 degrees VV spectra, which we designate as the "VV dip." It is an analog of the Rytov dip observed at high temperatures in the 90 degrees VH spectra, which is also accurately described by this theory. Analysis of the 90 degrees VV spectra was carried out both with and without inclusion of translation-rotation coupling in order to determine quantitatively the role this coupling plays.

Temperature and pressure study of Brillouin transverse modes in the organic glass-forming liquid orthoterphenyl

Transverse Brillouin spectra of orthoterphenyl are measured in the (250-305 K; 0.1-100 MPa) temperature-pressure range, which corresponds to the supercooled phase of this organic glass former. We show that the analysis of these spectra combined with an extrapolation of the reorientation times under pressure leads to an estimate of the static shear viscosity in a pressure range whose validity extends beyond the range of the Brillouin measurements. The relative contributions of temperature and of density to the change of this reorientation time measured along an isobar are extracted from our results in a large temperature range extending from the liquid to the low temperature supercooled state. They appear to be always of the same order of magnitude. It is also shown that in the range of the experiment, the orientational time is depending on a unique parameter built on temperature and density.

Universality of the dynamic crossover in glass-forming liquids: a "magic" relaxation time

Analysis of experimental data on the structural relaxation time tau(alpha) in various glass formers revealed its universality at the critical temperature T(c) of the mode-coupling theory. In most glass formers studied ln tau(alpha)(T(c))=-(6.5-7.5). Possible reasons for such a universality are discussed.