Ordering Transitions in Short-Chain
Alcohols
Alejandro Sanz
Abstract Alcohols present fascinating properties, both static and dynamic, to a
large extent due to the presence of a hydrogen-bonded network. In the liquid state,
hydrogen bonds (HB) are continuously forming and breaking on a timescale of
10
–11 s at room temperature. Thus, these substances exhibit a rich dynamic behaviour
at different time and length scales. Alcohols are considered complex systems in which
structural and dynamic fluctuations in the HB network play a key role in the relaxation dynamics, as well as on the structural development. Revealing the interplay
between the structural ordering and the relaxation dynamics during crystallization in
short-chain alcohols is of paramount importance. One of the most powerful experimental methods to tackle this problem is dielectric spectroscopy (DS), not only
because it offers information about characteristic time scales, but also because it
allows obtaining information about the static properties of the system, at least in
an indirect manner. In this chapter, we go through some of the most representative
examples that illustrate the crystallization in short-chain alcohols by using dielectric
spectroscopy, making special emphasis on those works in which dielectrics has been
combined simultaneously with neutron diffraction (ND). This singular approach
allows the crystal development to be tracked by means of ND, and the dynamic
changes occurring in the disordered phase by DS, providing in this manner a complete
picture of the structural ordering process.
Keywords Crystallization · Neutron diffraction · Alcohols · Hydrogen-bonded
liquids · Plastic crystals
A. Sanz (B)
Glass and Time, IMFUFA, Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University,
P.O. Box 260, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
e-mail: asanzparras@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T. A. Ezquerra and A. Nogales (eds.), Crystallization as Studied
by Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy, Advances in Dielectrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56186-4_4
89
Alcohols
Alejandro Sanz
Abstract Alcohols present fascinating properties, both static and dynamic, to a
large extent due to the presence of a hydrogen-bonded network. In the liquid state,
hydrogen bonds (HB) are continuously forming and breaking on a timescale of
10
–11 s at room temperature. Thus, these substances exhibit a rich dynamic behaviour
at different time and length scales. Alcohols are considered complex systems in which
structural and dynamic fluctuations in the HB network play a key role in the relaxation dynamics, as well as on the structural development. Revealing the interplay
between the structural ordering and the relaxation dynamics during crystallization in
short-chain alcohols is of paramount importance. One of the most powerful experimental methods to tackle this problem is dielectric spectroscopy (DS), not only
because it offers information about characteristic time scales, but also because it
allows obtaining information about the static properties of the system, at least in
an indirect manner. In this chapter, we go through some of the most representative
examples that illustrate the crystallization in short-chain alcohols by using dielectric
spectroscopy, making special emphasis on those works in which dielectrics has been
combined simultaneously with neutron diffraction (ND). This singular approach
allows the crystal development to be tracked by means of ND, and the dynamic
changes occurring in the disordered phase by DS, providing in this manner a complete
picture of the structural ordering process.
Keywords Crystallization · Neutron diffraction · Alcohols · Hydrogen-bonded
liquids · Plastic crystals
A. Sanz (B)
Glass and Time, IMFUFA, Department of Science and Environment, Roskilde University,
P.O. Box 260, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark
e-mail: asanzparras@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
T. A. Ezquerra and A. Nogales (eds.), Crystallization as Studied
by Broadband Dielectric Spectroscopy, Advances in Dielectrics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56186-4_4
89