The effect of temperature on the hydrostatic limit of 4:1 methanol–ethanol under pressure

Abstract

We have investigated the pressure-induced solidification of 4:1 methanol–ethanol at 50 °C and 100 °C, using the ruby fluorescence technique and an externally heated diamond anvil cell. The hydrostatic limits of this pressure transmitting medium increases at a rate of 1 GPa per 11 °C to reach 17 GPa at 100 °C. This demonstrates that the hydrostatic limits can be considerably increased by modest heating.

Keywords:

• high pressure
• ruby fluorescence
• hydrostatic limits
• high temperature

Acknowledgements

The measurements were carried out within an internship project of L. Paumier from the IUT Orsay (France). We acknowledge the experimental advice from J.C. Chervin and helpful comments from A. Cornelius (UNLV).

Notes

It should be noted that at the glass transition, a ‘liquid’ with a viscosity of ∼ 10¹² Pa s corresponds to a mechanical state which would normally be considered as ‘solid’. For molecular systems, the microscopic relaxation times at the glass transition are ∼ 100 s.