在室温条件下, 利用金刚石对顶砧超高压实验技术, 对液态的正庚烷进行了原位高压拉曼光谱研究, 采用红宝石荧光压标测压, 实验的最高压力为20.78 GPa。实验中发现, 当压力达到1.2 GPa左右时, 原本透明的样品腔内有小晶粒形成, 此时测量的拉曼谱上发现有许多新的拉曼峰出现。因此, 我们判断正庚烷在此压力下发生了一次相变; 当压力增加到3 GPa左右时, 在92.42 cm-1和2913.6 cm-1处又出现了2个新的拉曼峰, 并且拉曼频移随压力变化的曲线出现拐点, 我们推测在此压力下正庚烷可能又发生第二次相变; 当压力高于14.5 GPa时, 正庚烷发生了第三次压致相变; 而当压力介于7.5~14.5 GPa之间正庚烷处于两相共存的状态。我们给出了液体正庚烷在高压下的相变序列为: 液相-旋转相Ⅲ-旋转相Ⅳ-结晶相。该研究结果为进一步理解和研究其他正烷烃在高压下的结构、物理和化学特性提供了理论基础。

We performed high pressure Raman scattering and angle dispersive synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements on n-heptane at room temperature. It has been found that n-heptane undergoes a liquid to rotator phase III (RⅢ) transition at 1.2GPa and then transforms into another rotator phase RⅣ at about 3GPa. As the pressure reaches 7.5GPa, a transition from an orientationally disordered RⅣ phase to an ordered crystalline state starts and is completed around 14.5GPa. Our results clearly present the high pressure phase transition sequence (liquid-RⅢ-RⅣ-crystal) of n-heptane, similar to that of normal alkanes.