Orientational behavior of molecular liquids in restricted geometries

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Abstract
Subpicosecond optical birefringence techniques have been employed to probe directly the rotational dynamics of topologically different molecular liquids confined within porous sol-gel glasses. The glasses have extremely high surface areas with uniform and controllable pore diameters, allowing a systematic evaluation of the liquid behavior as a function of its geometrical confinement. Results with wetting and nonwetting liquids reveal differences between the dynamics of the surface layer and that of the bulk, thereby providing a method of calculating equilibrium properties of the adsorbed film.