Optical Properties and Crystallization of Natural Waxes at Several Annealing Temperatures: a Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy Study

The thermal analysis and optical properties of paraffin wax, beeswax, and liquid paraffin annealed at variable temperatures have been conducted using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) coupled with SEM methods. The characteristic optical properties of natural waxes can be used to analyze natural wax adulteration. The lamellar structure of paraffin wax and beeswax grew by a sheet of chain expansion. Furthermore, the crystallization process of paraffin wax can be assigned: rotator-solid transition and liquid-solid ones. According to the temperature-dependent refractive index curves, the refractive index of paraffin wax varies from large to small followed by rotator-liquid transition, untreated one, and liquid-solid one, respectively. The results indicated that THz-TDS has been proved to be of great potential in identification the crystallization of waxes.