Heat capacity of methane–krypton solid solutions. Conversion effect

Abstract

The heat capacity of Kr–nCH4 solid solutions with the concentrations n=1; 5; 10% and of the solid solution Kr–1% CH4–0.2% O2 is studied at 0.7–8 K. The contributions Crot to the heat capacity of the solutions due to the rotation of the CH4 molecules are estimated. The deviations of the measured Crot from the values corresponding to the equilibrium distribution of the CH4 nuclear spin modifications are dependent on the correlation between the characteristic times of conversion and of the calorimetric experiment. The effects of temperature, O2 impurities, and CH4 clusters upon the conversion rate are studied. It is shown that the hybrid mechanism of conversion proposed by Berlinsky and Nijman, which takes into account both intramolecular and intermolecular interactions of the proton spins, is predominant.