Structural Properties of Glass-Forming Ethanol and Glycerol From O–H Vibrational Spectra

The O–H stretching vibrations of hydrogen-bonded glass formers (ethanol and glycerol) are studied by Raman scattering in a temperature range where the liquid state changes from low-viscous to solid. Several characteristic bands exhibiting different temperature behavior can be distinguished in the O–H vibrational spectrum of ethanol. The appearance of an additional band on cooling ethanol below 220 K is related to the appearance of locally favored structures. No notable manifestations of these features are detected in the spectra of glycerol.