Purification and growth of succinonitrile crystals

Overview & Synopsis

Succinonitrile samples with a reproducible and stable substructure are obtained by compression creep of single crystals at room temperature. The succinonitrile single crystals are prepared using the Bridgman method. The crystalline perfection of the samples is controlled with Laue patterns obtained in a camera devised for low temperature diffraction. The material used for crystal growth contains 50 ppm of impurities, it has been purified by successive distillations followed by zone refining. The creep deformation used to introduce the substructure allows also to study the mechanical behaviour of succinonitrile. The experiments result in mechanical properties comparable to those of the other materials.