Conversion of the glacial state into the crystal in triphenyl phosphite

The conversion of the glacial state of triphenyl phosphite into the crystal on heating was analyzed from Raman and dielectric investigations. Both spectroscopic probes reveal the appearance of liquid during the heating process, interpreted as a partial melting. Assuming the description of the glacial state in terms of nanocrystals of the stable crystalline phase, embedded in the matrix of non-transformed supercooled liquid, the smallest nanocrystals can be considered merely as nuclei of the crystal with dimensions in the range of the critical radius of nucleation. Consequently, these nanocrystals become unstable on heating and melt. No consideration of structural frustration is needed to explain a partial melting of the glacial state, and no trace of topological defects was detected during the conversion of the glacial state into the crystal. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.