Experimental thermal diffusion factors for 20Ne–22Ne and their application as a test of the neon interatomic potential

The thermal diffusion factor of 20Ne–22Ne was measured from approximately 200 to 900°K in a 20-tube trennschaukel. The results of previous workers were examined in detail, and those considered the most reliable were combined with the present data and fitted to a polynomial in powers of T1/2. The resulting expression represents existing thermal diffusion data from 75 to 1200°K with an average standard deviation of ±3.1%. Eighteen intermolecular potentials for neon of various functional forms were investigated, but none were found that produced a satisfactory theoretical value for αT over the entire temperature range.