The Structure of Glassy and Liquid Sulfur Revisited

Chris Benmore

doi:10.52825/glass-europe.v3i.2532

Authors

Chris Benmore Argonne National Laboratory https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7007-7749

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52825/glass-europe.v3i.2532

Keywords:

Sulfur, X-Ray Diffraction, Pair Distribution Function, Lambda Transition, Glass Structure

Abstract

High energy x-ray experiments have been performed on liquid and glassy sulfur over a wide temperature range. Heating the elastic quenched glass above -9 ºC and supercooling liquid sulfur below 51 ºC both resulted in crystallization to monoclinic sulfur. The average coordination number of the first shell in glassy sulfur determined from the pair distribution function is found to be 1.90±0.05. This result is in good agreement with previous neutron and x-ray pair distribution function studies, and lends support to the recent proposal that there are a significant number of short chains in the low temperature liquid upon melting. Also, a non-negligible coordination number of 0.20±0.04 is found in the interstitial region between the first and second shells in glassy sulfur, similar to that found in the liquid. An increase in the third peak in the glassy pair distribution function at 4.47 Å associated with S₈-rings indicates the percentage is higher in the quenched glass compared to the stable liquid. This casts doubt on previous estimations of the percentage of S₈-rings present upon melting.

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The Structure of Glassy and Liquid Sulfur Revisited

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