Pressure effect on the solid–liquid equilibrium forms of even normal alkanes

This paper describes the changes in equilibrium forms of small even-numbered normal alkane crystals as functions of temperature, pressure and the carbon number of alkane chains. The crystals were grown by increasing pressure of the liquids using a diamond anvil cell (DAC). After single crystals were prepared in the DAC under high pressure, the crystals were maintained for a long period under constant pressure and temperature. During the changes in the shape of the single crystal, a thick plate of {001} plane with sharp edges was obtained within a narrow temperature range. The appearance of the thick plate is discussed with reference to the pressure and temperature dependencies of the anisotropy of the surface energy of the crystals.