Neutron diffraction experiments on ethane under high pressure

Abstract

A neutron scattering investigation on deuteroethane at four different thermodynamic states is reported. The study was performed at 370K and pressures up to 815bar and was restricted to the supercritical state of ethane. The fully corrected coherent differential cross section is presented. The weighted sum of the total atom pair correlation function is separated into intramolecular and intermolecular contributions and the structural parameters of the molecule in the fluid state were determined. The density dependence of the intermolecular atom pair correlation functions is clearly visible. The experimental results are compared with previous experiments on liquid ethane and XRISM (reference interaction site model (RISM) in combination with the hypernetted chain closure) calculations, based on a two centre Lennard-Jones potential.