The structure of molten ZnCl_2: A new analysis of some old data

摘要

Using a recently derived method, based on empirical potential structure refinement (EPSR), the structure of molten zinc chloride (ZnCl_2) is re-analysed. Contrary to the picture given in some early analyses, the results indicate that there are significant uncertainties in the extracted site-site radial distribution functions, particularly the Zn-Zn distribution. These are derived from the small weighting of this partial structure factor in the measured diffraction data and from systematic uncertainties in the original data. The simulated atom distributions are used to discuss the three-dimensional structure of this molten salt.