Glass transition cooperativity from broad band heat capacity spectroscopy

Molecular dynamics is often studied by broad band dielectric spectroscopy (BDS) because of the wide dynamic range available and the large number of processes resulting in electrical dipole fluctuations and with that in a dielectrically detectable relaxation process. Calorimetry on the other hand is an effective analytical tool to characterize phase and glass transitions by its signatures in heat capacity. In the linear response scheme, heat capacity is considered as entropy compliance. Consequently, only processes significantly contributing to entropy fluctuations appear in calorimetric curves. The glass relaxation is a prominent example for such a process. Here, we present complex heat capacity at the dynamic glass transition (segmental relaxation) of polystyrene (PS) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) in a dynamic range of 11 orders of magnitude, which is comparable to BDS. As one of the results, we determined the characteristic length scale of the corresponding fluctuations. The dynamic glass transition measured by calorimetry is finally compared to the cooling rate dependence of fictive temperature and BDS data. For PS, dielectric and calorimetric data are similar but for PMMA with its very strong secondary relaxation process some peculiarities are observed

Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carriers: Thermophysical and Thermochemical Studies of Benzyl- and Dibenzyl-toluene Derivatives

The heat transfer oils dibenzyltoluene and benzyltoluene are promising materials as a new class of liquid organic hydrogen carrier compounds (LOHC). Thermophysical properties (heat capacity, density, viscosity, and surface tension) of the commercially available thermofluids Marlothem LH (benzyltoluene) and Marlotherm SH (dibenzyltoluene) and their completely hydrogenated derivatives were measured. Thermochemical properties (enthalpies of combustion and enthalpies of vaporization) were derived from experiments. Gas-phase molar enthalpies of formation were derived and validated with group-additivity and high-level quantum chemical calculations. Enthalpies of the hydrogenation/dehydrogenation reactions of the LOHC pairs under study were derived

Molecular Origin of Enhanced Proton Conductivity in Anhydrous Ionic Systems

Ionic systems with enhanced proton conductivity are widely viewed as promising electrolytes in fuel cells and batteries. Nevertheless, a major challenge toward their commercial applications is determination of the factors controlling the fast proton hopping in anhydrous conditions. To address this issue, we have studied novel proton-conducting materials formed via a chemical reaction of lidocaine base with a series of acids characterized by a various number of proton-active sites. From ambient and high pressure experimental data, we have found that there are fundamental differences in the conducting properties of the examined salts. On the other hand, DFT calculations revealed that the internal proton hopping within the cation structure strongly affects the pathways of mobility of the charge carrier. These findings offer a fresh look on the Grotthuss-type mechanism in protic ionic glasses as well as provide new ideas for the design of anhydrous materials with exceptionally high proton conductivity