Stefan Carlson

High-pressure properties of TiP2O7, ZrP2O7 and ZrV2O7

High-pressure synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction studies of TiP2O7, ZrP2O7 and ZrV2O7 have been performed. The ZrV2O7 structure undergoes a reversible transition at 1.38–1.58u2005GPa from cubic α- to pseudo-tetragonal β-ZrV2O7 that displays an orthorhombic 2 × 3 × 3 supercell. At pressures above 4u2005GPa, ZrV2O7 becomes irreversibly X-ray amorphous. No such transformations are observed for TiP2O7 and ZrP2O7, which compress smoothly up to the highest investigated pressures (40.3 and 20.5u2005GPa, respectively). These differences in high-pressure properties are discussed in terms of the negative thermal expansion of ZrV2O7. The bulk moduli at ambient pressure (B0) for TiP2O7, ZrP2O7, α-ZrV2O7 and β-ZrV2O7 were estimated to be 42u2005(3), 39u2005(1), 17.0u2005(7) and 20.8u2005(10)u2005GPa, respectively.

Stability of KAlSi3O8 Hollandite‐type structure in the Earth's lower mantle conditions

The stability of KAISi3O8 hollandite-type structure is investigated in a series of synthesis experiments between 20 and 95 GPa at 650(±50) °C and between 1200 to 2300 °C, using electrically- and laser-heated diamond anvil cells, respectively. Potassium feldspar transformed to a hollandite-type structure in the experimental pressure range from 20 to 95 GPa at temperatures between 1200 to 2300 °C, whereas it remained amorphous at 65(±5) GPa and 650(±50) °C. KAISi3O8 hollandite is, therefore, a stable phase under the pressure and temperature conditions of at least 2200 km deep in the lower mantle and could be an important host for potassium in that region.

High‐pressure structures of α‐ and δ‐ZrMo2O8

In situ high-pressure synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction studies of trigonal α-ZrMo2O8, zirconium molybdate, have been performed from ambient conditions to 1.9u2005GPa, over the α–δ phase transition at 1.06–1.11u2005GPa. The monoclinic structure of δ-ZrMo2O8, stable between 1.1 and 2.5u2005GPau2005at 298u2005K, has been solved by direct methods and refined using the Rietveld method. Significant distortions of the ZrO6 and MoO4 polyhedral elements are observed for δ-ZrMo2O8, as compared to the ambient conditions of the α-phase, while the packing of anions becomes more symmetric at high pressure.

Bulk modulus and high-pressure crystal structures of tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)methane C[Si(CH3)3]4 determined by X-ray powder diffraction

The pressure dependence of the crystal structure of cubic tetrakis(trimethylsilyl)methane C[Si(CH3)3]4 (TC) (P < 16.0 GPa, T = 298 K) is reported using high-resolution angle-dispersive X-ray powder diffraction. The compound has crystal structures with the molecules in a cubic-close-packed (c.c.p.) arrangement. It shows three phase transitions in the measured pressure range. At ambient conditions, TC has space group Fm3m (Z = 4) with a = 12.8902 (2) A, V = 2141.8 (1) A3 (phase I). Between 0 and 0.13 GPa TC exhibits a first-order phase transition into a structure with space group Pa3 (phase II). A second first-order phase transition occurs between 0.2 and 0.28 GPa into a structure with space group P2(1)3 (phase III). Under non-hydrostatic pressure conditions (P > 10 GPa) a transformation is observed into a c.c.p. structure that is different from the face-centred-cubic structure at ambient conditions. A non-linear compression behaviour is observed, which could be described by a Vinet relation in the range 0.28-4.8 GPa. The extrapolated bulk modulus of the high-pressure phase III was determined to be K0 = 7.1 (8) GPa. The crystal structures in phase III are refined against X-ray powder data measured at several pressures between 0.49 and 4.8 GPa, and the molecules are found to be fully ordered. This is interpreted to result from steric interactions between neighbouring molecules, as shown by analysing the pressure dependence of intramolecular angles, torsion angles and intermolecular distances. Except for their cell dimensions, phases I, II and III are found to be isostructural to the corresponding phases at low temperatures.

Influence of the molecular structures on the high-pressure and low-temperature phase transitions of plastic crystals

The crystal structures of tert-butyl-tris(trimethylsilyl)silane, Si[C(CH(3))(3)](1)[Si(CH(3))(3)](3) (Bu1), and di-tert-butyl-bis(trimethylsilyl)silane, Si[C(CH(3))(3)](2)[Si(CH(3))(3)](2) (Bu2), at room temperature and at 105 K have been determined by X-ray powder diffraction; the high-pressure behavior for pressures between 0 and 5 GPa is reported. The room-temperature structures have cubic Fm3m symmetry (Z = 4) with a = 13.2645 (2) A, V = 2333.87 (4) A(3) for Bu1 and a = 12.9673 (1) A, V = 2180.46 (3) A(3) for Bu2. The molecules are arranged in a cubic close packing (c.c.p.) and exhibit at least 48-fold orientational disorder. Upon cooling both compounds undergo a first-order phase transition at temperatures T(c) = 230 (5) K (Bu1) and T(c) = 250 (5) K (Bu2) into monoclinic structures with space group P2(1)/n. The structures at 105 K have a = 17.317 (1), b = 15.598 (1), c = 16.385 (1) A, gamma = 109.477 (4) degrees, V = 4172.7 (8) A(3) and Z = 8 for Bu1and a = 17.0089 (9), b = 15.3159 (8), c = 15.9325 (8) A, gamma = 110.343 (3) degrees, V = 3891.7 (5) A(3) and Z = 8 for Bu2. The severe disorder of the room-temperature phase is significantly decreased and only a two- or threefold rotational disorder of the molecules remains at 105 K. First-order phase transitions have been observed at pressures of 0.13-0.28 GPa for Bu1 and 0.20-0.24 GPa for Bu2. The high-pressure structures are isostructural to the low-temperature structures. The pressure dependencies of the unit-cell Volumes were fitted with Vinet equations of state and the bulk moduli were obtained. At still higher pressures further anomalies in the pressure dependencies of the lattice parameters were observed. These anomalies are explained as additional disorder-order phase transitions.

Bulk modulus and non-uniform compression of Nb3Te4 and InxNb3Te4 (x < 1) channel compounds

The crystal structures of Nb3Te4 and InxNb3Te4 [x = 0.539 (4)] are reported for a series of pressures between 0 and 40 GPa. Both compounds crystallize in space group P6(3)/m with a = b = 10.671 and c = 3.6468 A for Nb3Te4, and a = b = 10.677 and c = 3.6566 A for InxNb3Te4 at ambient conditions. Phase transitions were not observed. High-pressure X-ray powder diffraction was measured using a diamond anvil cell and synchrotron radiation. Full Rietveld refinements provided the values of the lattice parameters and the values of the atomic coordinates at each pressure. The bulk modulus is found as K(0) = 70 (5) GPa for Nb3Te4 and as K(0) = 73 (4) GPa for InxNb3Te4. The analysis of the pressure dependences of the detailed crystal structures shows that the compression along c involves the folding up of the quasi-one-dimensional zigzag chains of Nb. The compression perpendicular to c is entirely due to the reduction of the diameter of the channels. The presence of intercalated In atoms is found to have hardly any influence on the compression behaviour up to 40 GPa.

High-pressure studies of the cubic to rhombohedral transformation in NbO2F

The Pmbar{3}m to Rbar{3}c high-pressure transition of NbO2F has been studied in detail using diamond anvil cells and synchrotron X-ray radiation. The transition starts at 0.28u2005GPa and is complete at 0.65u2005GPa. The bulk modulus for the cubic phase became 24.8u2005(11)u2005GPa, which is roughly two times higher than for the rhombohedral phase.