Analysis of the local order in the glacial state of triphenyl phosphite by neutron diffraction

A neutron diffraction study over a wide Q-range (Qmax = 16 Å−1) has been made in order to analyze the change of the local order of triphenyl phosphite through the isothermal transformation between the supercooled liquid into the glacial state at different temperatures Ta. Direct evidence is given from the analysis of the time-dependence of diffraction pattern, both in the low Q- and high Q-regimes that the structural changes observed during the glaciation are the signature of a crystallization process. Consequently, the transformation of the supercooled liquid into the glacial state can be interpreted as an abortive crystallization into a sub-microcrystalline state.