The structure of molten zinc chloride

Abstract

The structure of molten ZnCl2 has been investigated by applying the technique of neutron diffraction to isotopically enriched samples. The three partial structure factors relating to Zn-Zn, Cl-Cl and Zn-Cl correlations have been successfully extracted from the experimental data. It is concluded that the correct structural description of the melt is in terms of Zn2+ and Cl- ions rather than the range of complex ionic species which have earlier been proposed. It is further shown that specific chemical bonding effects associated with the Zn-Cl interaction make a very minor contribution to the structure.