Short-range order in the quasiliquid phases of alkane substructures within aperiodic urea inclusion crystals

$n$-alkane/urea inclusion compounds are prototypical examples of aperiodic crystals with uniformly aligned alkane guest molecules contained within linear channels formed by the supramolecular urea host. Here, we investigate single-crystal diffuse scattering, which is present in form sharp layers, from short-chain (from octane to dodecane). The strong modulation scattering these layers shows that positions neighboring correlated. Using three-dimensional difference pair distribution function method, have extracted effective interaction potentials and shown mediated relaxation molecules.