Binary Mixtures of n-Alkanes for Tunable Thermohydraulic Microactuators

The two objectives of this paper are related to the use of n-alkanes in actuators. The first objective is to study the thermomechanics of binary mixtures of dotriacontane and hexatriacontane to see if a quasi-stable thermal expansion can be obtained, and the second one is to find the correspondence between dilatometry [pressure, volume, and temperature (pVT) measurement] and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Results show that there is indeed a concentration-dependent plateau in the expansion curves and that the width and horizontal position of this can be adjusted. As compared with pure n-alkanes, the plateaus of the mixtures widen by a factor of 2-4, and as compared with pure hexatriacontane, they shift their low-end temperatures by 5 to 10, in the 25% to 75% concentration range. The mixtures' plateaus (gathered around 0.06) are about 0.02 below those of the pure n-alkanes. It is shown that DSC can be used for a prediction of the thermomechanical properties of the substances, provided that a pVT reference exists, and the fact that the melting point increases with the pressure that is experienced with the dilatometer is considered. The qualitative similarity between the expansion and enthalpy curves is remarkable. About 25% to 30% of the total volume expansion is attributed to the solid-to-solid phase transition; the rest is attributed to thermal expansion and melting.