Melting temperature elevation of benzene confined in graphitic micropores

Melting and freezing behaviors of benzene confined in graphitic micropores of different pore widths were examined by the use of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) over the temperature range of 180–320 K. A single diffuse DSC peak due to melting was observed for confined benzene above the melting temperature of bulk benzene. The melting temperature of confined benzene was in the range of 294–298 K, which is higher than that of bulk benzene by 16–20 K. The observed enthalpy of fusion of confined benzene was in the range of 4–5 J mol−1, which is much smaller than that of bulk benzene (10.7 kJ mol−1).