Correlation between nonexponential relaxation and non-Arrhenius behavior under conditions of high compression

Photon correlation spectroscopy was used to investigate the behavior of the dynamical properties of 1,1’-di(4-methoxy-5-methyl-phenyl)cyclohexane (BMMPC) at elevated pressures. The fragility of BMMPC measured by the steepness index $m_T$ is decreasing and the nonexponentiality parameter ${\beta }_{\mathrm{KWW}}$ is increasing with increasing pressure. This result strongly suggests that the phenomenological correlation between the steepness index and nonexponentionality is also preserved under high compression. The pressure dependence of the structural relaxation times is well characterized by a simple activation volume form. The activation volume continuously increases with decreasing temperature, which is probably due to the increase of cooperativity of the structural relaxation process. Moreover, we found that the glass-transition temperature exhibits a significant dependence on pressure.