Phase transition of physically confined 2-decanol

We have studied phase transition of physically confined 2-decanol in nano porous silica using power compensated differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). Like bulk, the physically confined also exhibit hysteresis between its melting and freezing temperature. However, its thermal history plays significant role in determining its freezing temperature. The melting temperature, on the other hand, did not show similar changes with respect to thermal history, suggesting that it is truly driven thermodynamically rather than kinetically. In addition, there seems to be a cutoff in size where crystallization front could not proceed.