Structure of deuterated liquid n-butanol by neutron diffraction and molecular dynamics simulations

Aliphatic alcohols are the simpler molecular liquids possessing a polar hydroxylic group and a nonpolar alkyl tail. While the structure of the smallest alcohols has been relatively well studied, no much attention has been paid to the temperature dependence of the pre-peak observed before the main diffraction peak. The role of H-bonding in causing this feature and the direct relation between the number of C atoms and their distance were discovered very early, suggesting a liquid picture constituted of straight chains joined by H-bonds with the formation of mesoscopic size clusters. X-rays and neutron diffraction measurements showed that the height of the pre-peak associated with the formation of H-bonds increases with temperature. To explain this counterintuitive effect, a complete diffraction study using two neutron diffractometers D4 and D16 (ILL, Grenoble, France) allowing to cover the range 0.01-23 {\AA}${\rm t}$1 and exploring a temperature range from 100 K (glassy butanol) to 400 K (moderately supercritical conditions) has been conducted. Molecular Dynamics simulations using the OPLS-AA potential were also carried out as a function of temperature and compared to experiment. Experimental and numerical results of liquid n-butanol and its glassy transition will be presented.