Dynamic signatures of the transition from stacking disordered to hexagonal ice: Dielectric and nuclear magnetic resonance studies.

Using various temperature-cycling protocols, the dynamics of ice I were studied via dielectric spectroscopy and nuclear magnetic resonance relaxometry on protonated and deuterated samples obtained by heating high-density amorphous ices as well as crystalline ice XII. Previous structural studies of ice I established that at temperatures of about 230 K, the stacking disorder of the cubic/hexagonal oxygen lattice vanishes. The present dielectric and nuclear magnetic resonance investigations of spectral changes disclose that the memory of the existence of a precursor phase is preserved in the hydrogen matrix up to 270 K. This finding of hydrogen mobility lower than that of the undoped hexagonal ice near the melting point highlights the importance of dynamical investigations of the transitions between various ice phases and sheds new light on the dynamics in ice I in general.

Dynamics in Supercooled Secondary Amide Mixtures: Dielectric and Hydrogen Bond Specific Spectroscopies.

Alkylacetamide-based model peptides display an intense Debye-type dielectric relaxation. In order to explore the extent to which this feature has to be regarded analogous to that in other supramolecular liquids, notably the monohydroxy alcohols, we applied broadband dielectric, time-dependent solvation, and near-infrared spectroscopies as well as shear rheology and various nuclear magnetic resonance techniques to mixtures of N-methylacetamide (NMA) or N-ethylacetamide (NEA) with N-methylformamide. Compared in the modulus format, dielectric relaxation, solvation dynamics, and mechanical response indicate a common global and local dynamics. The present spin-relaxation measurements reflect motional processes which are significantly faster than the dominant Debye dielectric response, and a similar conclusion is drawn from measurements of the shear viscosity. The NH overtone stretching vibrations reveal a temperature-dependent hydrogen-bond equilibrium that changes its characteristics near temperatures of 325 K. Finally, dielectric low-temperature data recorded for (NEA)0.4(NMF)0.6 mixed with 2-picoline indicate the existence of a critical concentration akin to the situation in various monohydroxy alcohol mixtures.

Liquid 1-propanol studied by neutron scattering, near-infrared, and dielectric spectroscopy.

Liquid monohydroxy alcohols exhibit unusual dynamics related to their hydrogen bonding induced structures. The connection between structure and dynamics is studied for liquid 1-propanol using quasi-elastic neutron scattering, combining time-of-flight and neutron spin-echo techniques, with a focus on the dynamics at length scales corresponding to the main peak and the pre-peak of the structure factor. At the main peak, the structural relaxation times are probed. These correspond well to mechanical relaxation times calculated from literature data. At the pre-peak, corresponding to length scales related to H-bonded structures, the relaxation times are almost an order of magnitude longer. According to previous work [C. Gainaru, R. Meier, S. Schildmann, C. Lederle, W. Hiller, E. Rössler, and R. Böhmer, Phys. Rev. Lett. 105, 258303 (2010)] this time scale difference is connected to the average size of H-bonded clusters. The relation between the relaxation times from neutron scattering and those determined from dielectric spectroscopy is discussed on the basis of broad-band permittivity data of 1-propanol. Moreover, in 1-propanol the dielectric relaxation strength as well as the near-infrared absorbance reveal anomalous behavior below ambient temperature. A corresponding feature could not be found in the polyalcohols propylene glycol and glycerol.