On the extent of polymerization of liquid sulfur at very high temperatures

Collective dynamics of liquid sulfur scrutinized over three decades in frequency

Liquid sulfur consists mainly of eight-membered rings and hence can be regarded as a model of a molecular liquid. A liquid, which is built from different molecular structures, will demonstrate a wide range in relaxation processes and excitation modes. Three inelastic neutron scattering experiments have been performed to study the collective dynamics of liquid sulfur over three decades in frequencies. A wide range of wave vectors was studied to reveal the response of density fluctuations over different lengthscales. A viscoelastic model with a two-times memory function was applied to the data. The analysis revealed a slow relaxation mode, an acoustic-type excitation, and a high-frequency mode, which resembles an optic-type excitation. The wave-vector dependence of the slow relaxation mode width exhibits the signs of a de Gennes narrowing around the wave vector where the structure factor has a shoulder. This slow relaxation process could be related to diffusive particle movements. The acoustic-type modes evidence a viscoelastic reaction with a 50% enhancement of the sound velocity. This enhancement of the sound velocity and the spectral line shape is qualitatively similar to spectra of molecular liquids. The two relaxation times of the memory function are separated by about two orders of magnitude and underpin the need for a wide frequency range investigation of this complex liquid. The high-frequency response can be interpreted as optic-type modes in the liquid.

Reaction of 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate with elemental sulfur

By the methods of MALDI and mass spectroscopy with the detection of positively and negatively charged ions, it was found that the reaction of elemental sulfur and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate is accompanied by the opening of the S8 ring. 1H, 13C, 15N and 31P NMR spectroscopy showed that the interaction of S8 and 1,3-dimethylimidazolium dimethylphosphate proceeds exclusively on the oxygen atom of the dimethylphosphate anion carrying a negative charge. Kohn-Sham calculations at B3LYP/STO-3G, B3LYP/6-31G* and B3LYP/6-311G* levels of theory confirmed that the reaction of S8 with dimethylphosphate anion is possible.

The glassy and supercooled state of elemental sulfur: vibrational modes, structure metastability, and polymer content

We report a detailed investigation of vibrational modes, structure, and dynamics of elemental sulfur in the glassy and the supercooled state, using Raman scattering and ab initio calculations. Polarized Raman spectra are recorded--for sulfur quenched from 473 K--over a broad temperature range from 93 K to 273 K where the supercooled liquid crystallized. The temperature induced shifts of the majority of the vibrational modes are determined and compared with the corresponding ones of crystalline sulfur. Analysis of the reduced isotropic spectra showed that the structure of the quenched product is composed of eight member rings (S8) and polymeric chains (Sμ) with a relative fraction comparable to that of the parent liquid at 473 K. Low temperature spectra, where spectral line broadening due to thermal effects is limited, revealed that two different polymeric species are present in the glass with distinct vibrational frequencies. Their interpretation was assisted by ab initio calculations used to simulate the vibrational frequencies of polymeric chains S(8k) (k = 1, ..., 7). Theoretical results exhibit an increasing breathing mode frequency for sulfur chains up to k = 2, although it remains constant beyond the above value. The polymeric content is metastable; heating the glass above its glass transition temperature, T(g), destabilizes the chains and drives them back to the more thermodynamically stable rings. This bond interchange mechanism provides the structural origin of a secondary relaxation process in supercooled sulfur reported long ago, which has been also considered as a complication in the correct fragility estimation of this material. Finally, the Boson peak of the glass was found to exhibit strong temperature dependence even at temperatures below T(g).