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Experiments and instruments

A series of short movies showing how neutron experiments are prepared or performed. Some of these movies have an historical interest since they captured important moments in the life of the ILL.

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Films and animations

IN16

A liquid paradox

The video below demonstrates the strange behaviour a liquid which freezes when heated.

Above 45 C the mixture of 4-methylpyridine and cyclodextrine, turns from transparent liquid to a white solid with the consistency of a yoghurt. It melts if cooled down or if the temperature is raised above 95 C.
This counter-intuitive liquid has been studied at the ILL with neutrons, i.e. both the structure (D11, D16) and the molecular dynamics (IN16). For more details see e.g. the paper "Freezing on heating of liquid solutions" (see Ref. below).


Click here to download the 384x288 MEPG-4 movie (2.6 Mb, duration 57").

Click here to download the 768x576 MPEG-4 movie (12 Mb, duration 57").

© 2004-2007, Institut Laue-Langevin, Grenoble, France

Ref.:
M. Plazanet et al. (2004) Freezing on heating of liquid solutions, J. Chem. Phys. 121, 5031.
M. Plazanet et al. (2006) "Inverse freezing in a-cyclodextrin solutions probed by quasi elastic neutron scattering", Chemical Physics 331, 35–41.
M. Plazanet et al. (2006) "Crystallization on heating and complex phase behavior of alpha-cyclodextrin solutions", J. chem. phys. 125, 154504-1-154504-6.

English checked by: Ronen Ghosh, April 2007.
Updates: A.Filhol, 16 Sept 2008, 9 Sept 2009.

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