Buy article online - an online subscription or single-article purchase is required to access this article.
research papers
Blends of the normal alkane C28H58 with either protonated or deuterated C36 alkane, xC28H58.(1 − x)C36H/D74, have been rapidly cooled from the melt and aged under ambient conditions for at least seven months. For compositions 0.94 ≥ x ≥ 0.65, both Bragg peaks and associated satellite peaks appear in the small-angle X-ray scattering. The Bragg peaks may be indexed to multiple order reflections from the average spacing of the chain lengths of the two components. The offset in q between these peaks is constant for each composition, but dependent on molar composition, and indicates that a superstructure phase forms on prolonged annealing. This new phase appears to be a solid solution and is found for both the protonated and deuterated samples, with a larger cell in the former system. For the remaining compositions, additional peaks indicate formation of a C36-rich phase.