Collective excitations in liquid D2 confined within the mesoscopic pores of a MCM-41 molecular sieve

TL;DR

This study compares collective excitations of liquid D2 in bulk and confined within mesoscopic pores of MCM-41, revealing confinement effects such as shortened excitation lifetimes and increased frequencies.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed comparison of D2 excitations in bulk versus mesoporous confinement, highlighting how pore confinement alters excitation dynamics.

Findings

Confinement shortens excitation lifetimes.

Pore confinement shifts excitation frequencies higher.

Reduced diffusivity observed in confined D2.

Abstract

We present a comparative study of the excitations in bulk and liquid D2 confined within the pores of MCM-41. The material (Mobile Crystalline Material-41) is a silicate obtained by means of a template that yields a partially crystalline structure composed by arrays of nonintersecting hexagonal channels of controlled width having walls made of amorphous SiO2. Its porosity was characterized by means of adsorption isotherms and found to be composed by a regular array of pores having a narrow distribution of sizes with a most probable value of 2.45 nm. The assessment of the precise location of the sample within the pores is carried out by means of pressure isotherms. The study was conducted at two pressures which correspond to pore fillings above the capillary condensation regime. Within the range of wave vectors where collective excitations can be followed up (0.3<Q<3.0 $\AA$−1), we found confinement brings forward a large shortening of the excitation lifetimes that shifts the characteristic frequencies to higher energies. In addition, the coherent quasielastic scattering shows signatures of reduced diffusivity.