@article{35701, author = {Wenchao Lu and Chandika Amarasinghe and Emily Zhang and Andrew Martin and Sumanjeet Kaur and Ravi S Prasher and Musahid Ahmed}, title = {Probing hydrogen-bond networks in plastic crystals with terahertz and infrared spectroscopy}, abstract = {

A molecular-level understanding of phase changes in hydrogen-bonded solid-state systems is of great importance in fields spanning thermal science to medical therapeutics.\ Polyols\ have recently emerged as prime targets for deployment, given their\ versatility\ in phase-induced changes, and occupy a deep space in\ eutectic\ solvents. Here, we explore the hydrogen-bond network of neopentyl glycol (NPG) with\ terahertz\ time-domain\ spectroscopy,\ attenuated total reflection\ spectroscopy in the far- and mid-infrared regions augmented by\ electronic structure calculations. A picture emerges where\ vibrational spectroscopy\ can exquisitely probe a crystalline to amorphous solid-solid phase transition while spectroscopy in the mid-infrared region provides a molecular picture of the phase transition. These methods are then applied to understand the\ thermal properties\ and phase changes in NPG upon incorporation of bis(trifluoromethane)-sulfonimide\ lithium salt, to demonstrate that vibrational spectroscopy can directly probe the disruption of hydrogen-bond networks in plastic crystals.

}, year = {2022}, booktitle = {Cell Reports Physical Science}, journal = {Cell Reports Physical Science}, series = {Cell Reports Physical Science}, volume = {3}, pages = {100988}, month = {08/2022}, issn = {26663864}, url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S2666386422002740}, doi = {10.1016/j.xcrp.2022.100988}, language = {eng}, }