Some unusual features in the behaviour of cyclohexane in confined geometry studied by neutron scattering

Cyclohexane, C6H12, is one of the simplest organic molecules due to its sixfold symmetry and weak van der Waals interaction. The dynamic characteristics have been extensively studied in the liquid and plastic crystal phases by spectroscopic means and have been analysed in terms of an unhindered rotator model. The transition from the liquid to the plastic crystal at 6.55C involves a low entropy change and leads to a fcc crystal with a large defect concentration. At lower temperatures, -87C, the rotational motion is frozen out to give a brittle crystal phase.