ISIS Neutron and Muon Source Data Journal

Are Nanocrystals the Cause of Recently Observed Liquid-Liquid Transitions in Salt Hydrates?

Abstract: We propose using the ZOOM beamline to measure small angle neutron scattering of deuterated sodium acetate trihydrate, which has a newly discovered transition suspected to be a liquid-liquid transition (LLT). However, to validate this, we must confirm that the observed change in dynamics is not due to the presence of nanocrystallites, which have been observed in some other systems that were thought to undergo LLTs. If this transition is not due to nanocrystal formation, then there is robust evidence to support that it is an LLT which occurs from the formation of locally favoured clusters. Importantly, LLTs are not well described by current liquid state theory, so studying them is critical for a robust understanding of the microscopic processes that occur in highly disordered systems.

Principal Investigator: Dr Coby Clarke
Local Contact: Dr Leide Cavalcanti
Experimenter: Miss Naomi Toplis

DOI: 10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2610018

ISIS Experiment Number: RB2610018

Publisher: STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source

Data format: RAW/Nexus
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Data Citation

The recommended format for citing this dataset in a research publication is as:
[author], [date], [title], [publisher], [doi]

For Example:
Dr Coby Clarke et al; (2026): Are Nanocrystals the Cause of Recently Observed Liquid-Liquid Transitions in Salt Hydrates?, STFC ISIS Neutron and Muon Source, https://doi.org/10.5286/ISIS.E.RB2610018

Data is released under the CC-BY-4.0 license.