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Ammonia borane, NH3BH3, has attracted significant interest as a promising candidate material for hydrogen storage. The effect of pressure on the bonding in NH3BH3 was investigated using Raman spectroscopy to over 20 GPa in a diamond anvil cell, and two new transitions were observed at approximately 5 and 12 GPa. Vibrational frequencies for the modes of the NH3 proton donor group exhibited negative pressure dependence, which is consistent with the behavior of conventional hydrogen bonds, while the vibrational frequencies of the BH3 proton acceptor group showed positive pressure dependence. The observed behavior of these stretching modes supports the presence of dihydrogen bonding at high pressure. In addition, the BH3 and NH3 bending modes showed an increase in spectral complexity with increasing pressure together with a discontinuity in dν/dP which suggests rotational disorder in this molecule. These results may provide guidance for understanding and developing improved hydrogen storage materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The factors that control the stress–strain state of a polycrystal under differential stress depend on whether or not plastic deformation has occurred in the solid. If not, then the elastic properties with the constraints of the Reuss–Voigt bounds limit this relationship. If plastic deformation becomes important then the Taylor and Sachs models are relevant. These models assume that the plastic process is enabled by dislocation flow on specific lattice planes and specific Burger’s vectors. Then, the relationship between stress and strain is controlled by the orientation of an individual grain with respect to the stress field, von Mises criterion, and the critical resolved stress on the dislocation that is necessary for flow. We use a self-consistent model to predict the flow stress during the plastic deformation of polycrystalline MgO with a slip system of {110}<110>, {111}<110>, and {100}<011> at different critical resolved shear stress ratios for the different slip systems. The prediction of the models is correlated with the results of x-ray diffraction measurements. Uniaxial deformation experiments on polycrystalline and single-crystal MgO samples were conducted in situ using white x-ray diffraction with a multielement detector and multianvil high-pressure apparatus at a pressure up to 6 GPa and a temperature of 500 °C. A deformation DIA was used to generate pressure and control at a constant deformation rate. Elastic strains and plastic strains were monitored using x-ray diffraction spectra and x-ray imaging techniques, respectively. The correlation of the data and models suggests that the plastic models need to be used to describe the stress–strain observations with the presence of plasticity, while the Reuss and Voigt models are appropriate for the elastic region of deformation, before the onset of plastic deformation. The similarity of elastic strains among different lattice planes suggests that the {111} slip system is the most significant slip system in MgO at high pressure and high temperature. © 2004 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earth's water cycle enables the incorporation of water (hydration) in mantle minerals that can influence the physical properties of the mantle. Lattice thermal conductivity of mantle minerals is critical for controlling the temperature profile and dynamics of the mantle and subducting slabs. However, the effect of hydration on lattice thermal conductivity remains poorly understood and has often been assumed to be negligible. Here we have precisely measured the lattice thermal conductivity of hydrous San Carlos olivine (Mg0.9Fe0.1)2SiO4 (Fo90) up to 15 gigapascals using an ultrafast optical pump-probe technique. The thermal conductivity of hydrous Fo90 with ~7,000 wt ppm water is significantly suppressed at pressures above ~5 gigapascals, and is approximately 2 times smaller than the nominally anhydrous Fo90 at mantle transition zone pressures, demonstrating the critical influence of hydration on the lattice thermal conductivity of olivine in this region. Modeling the thermal structure of a subducting slab with our results shows that the hydration-reduced thermal conductivity in hydrated oceanic crust further decreases the temperature at the cold, dry center of the subducting slab. Therefore, the olivine-wadsleyite transformation rate in the slab with hydrated oceanic crust is much slower than that with dry oceanic crust after the slab sinks into the transition zone, extending the metastable olivine to a greater depth. The hydration-reduced thermal conductivity could enable hydrous minerals to survive in deeper mantle and enhance water transportation to the transition zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The volume change of liquid and solid gallium has been studied as a function of pressure and temperature up to 3.02GPa at 300K and up to 3.63GPa at 330K using synchrotron x-ray microtomography combined with energy dispersive x-ray diffraction techniques. Two sets of directly measured P-V data at 300K and 330K were obtained from 3D tomography reconstruction data, and the corresponding isothermal bulk moduli were determined as 23.6 (0.5) GPa and 24.6 (0.4) GPa, respectively. The existence of a liquid-liquid phase transition region is proposed based on the abnormal compressibility of Ga melt at about 2.44GPa and 330K conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of the equation of states of hydrous (0.4 wt% H2O) and anhydrous San Carlos olivine (<30 ppm H2O) was conducted using synchrotron X-rays up to 11 GPa in a diamond anvil cell (DAC) at ambient temperature. Both samples were loaded in the same high-pressure chamber of the DAC to eliminate the possible pressure difference in different experiments. The obtained compression data were fitted to the third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state, yielding a bulk modulus K0 = 123(3) GPa for hydrous olivine and K0 = 130(4) GPa for anhydrous olivine as K0' fixed at 4.6. Therefore, 0.4 wt% H2O in olivine results in a 5% reduction in bulk modulus. Previous studies reported bulk modulus reduction by water in olivine's high-pressure polymorph (wadsleyite), to which the transformation from olivine gives rise to the seismic discontinuity at 410 km depth. The new data results in a reduction in the magnitude of the discontinuity by 50% in vP and 30% in vS (for 1:5 water partitioning between olivine and wadsleyite) with respect to anhydrous mantle. Previous knowledge of the influence of water on this phase transition has been in opposition to a large amount of water [e.g., 200 ppm by Wood (1995)] existing at 410 km depth. Calculation of the seismic velocities based on newly available elasticity data of the hydrous phases indicates that the presence of water is favorable for the mineral composition model (pyrolite) and seismic observations in terms of the magnitude of the 410 km discontinuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Majorite garnets with the composition Mj70Py30 have been deformed in the multi-anvil apparatus at 17 GPa and 2000 °C. The microstructure has been characterized by transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that under these conditions majorite garnet is ductile. Dislocations with <100> and ½<111> Burgers vectors are observed with a density 1-5 x 1012 m-2. The absence of clear glide planes and the occurrence of subgrain boundaries suggest the importance of diffusion and climb in the plasticity of majorite garnets in mantle transition zone conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We established an equation of state for nanocrystalline forsterite using multi-anvil press and diamond anvil cell. Comparative high-pressure and high-temperature experiments have been performed up to 9.6 GPa and 1,300°C. We found that nanocrystalline forsterite is more compressible than macro-powder forsterite. The bulk modulus of nanocrystalline forsterite is equal to 123.3 (±3.4) GPa whereas the bulk modulus of macro-powder forsterite is equal to 129.6 (±3.2) GPa. This difference is attributed to a weakening of the elastic properties of grain boundary and triple junction and their significant contribution in nanocrystalline sample compare to the bulk counterpart. The bulk modulus at zero pressure of forsterite grain boundary was determined to be 83.5 GPa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  The elastic moduli of magnesioferrite spinel, MgFe2O4, and their temperature dependence have been determined for the first time by ultrasonic measurements on a polycrystalline specimen. The measurements were carried out at 300 MPa and to 700C in a gas-medium high-pressure apparatus. On heating, both the elastic bulk (K S) and shear (G) moduli decrease linearly to 350C. By combining with extant thermal-expansion data, the values for the room-temperature K S and G, and their temperature derivatives are as follows: K 0 = 176.3(7) GPa, G 0 = 80.1(2) GPa, (∂K S/∂T) P  = −0.032(3) GPa K−1 and (∂G/∂T) P  = −0.012(1) GPa K−1. Between 350 and 400C, there are abrupt increases of 1.4% in both of the elastic moduli; these closely coincide with the magnetic Curie transition that was observed by thermal analyses at about 360C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a letter to the editor about yield strength enhancement of magnesium oxide by nanocrystals.

The crystal structure of NaMgF3 perovskite (neighborite) has been studied at 4 GPa and temperatures up to 1000 °C using the Rietveld structure-refinement method. In situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction data was collected using monochromatic radiation. The orthorhombic (Pbnm) to cubic (Pm3̅m) transition was observed when the temperature increased from 900 to 1000 °C. Structure refinements show that the ratio of polyhedral volumes of the A and B sites (VA/VB) of the orthorhombic phase increases with temperature, approaching the ideal value (5) for the cubic structure. However, this ratio becomes smaller at 4 GPa compared to the result from previous studies at the same temperature but ambient pressure, indicating that pressure makes it more difficult to transform from the orthorhombic phase to the cubic phase in this kind of perovskite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using diamond anvil cell (DAC) technique, in situ high-pressure Raman scattering and energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXRD) experiments were used at room temperature to study 3C-SiC with an average grain size of 30 nm. In contrast to its bulk counterpart, a decrease of the Born's transverse effective charge of these nanocrystals was observed with increasing pressure from measurements of the longitudinal and transverse optical phonon modes (longitudinal optical--transverse optical) splitting. This is therefore indicative of a diminishing ionicity of nanocrystalline 3C-SiC on compression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes a dual dispersive x-ray (DDX) diffraction system developed on the cubic-type multianvil press MAX80 of the beamline NE5C at the TRISTAN Accumulation Ring of the Photon Factory in Tsukuba, Japan. Layout of the DDX diffraction system; Energy dispersive x-ray diffraction mode; Angle dispersive x-ray diffraction mode; Volumetric compressibility.

Deformation experiments were carried out in a Deformation-DIA high-pressure apparatus (D-DIA) on oriented Mg2SiO4 olivine (Fo100) single crystals, at pressure (P) ranging from 2.1 to 7.5 GPa, in the temperature (T) range 1373-1677 K, and in dry conditions. These experiments were designed to investigate the effect of pressure on olivine dislocation slip-system activities, responsible for the lattice-preferred orientations observed in the upper mantle. Two compression directions were tested, promoting either [100] slip alone or [001] slip alone in (010) crystallographic plane. Constant applied stress (σ) and specimen strain rates (ᵈׄ) were monitored in situ using time-resolved X-ray synchrotron diffraction and radiography, respectively. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) investigation of the run products reveals that dislocation creep assisted by dislocation climb and cross slip was responsible for sample deformation. A slip transition with increasing pressure, from a dominant [100]-slip to a dominant [001]-slip, is documented. Extrapolation of the obtained rheological laws to upper-mantle P, T, and s conditions, suggests that [001]-slip activity becomes comparable to [100]-slip activity in the deep upper mantle, while [001] slip is mostly dominant in subduction zones. These results provide alternative explanations for the seismic anisotropy attenuation observed in the upper mantle, and for the "puzzling" seismic-anisotropy anomalies commonly observed in subduction zones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighborite (NaMgF3) with the perovskite structure, transforms to a post-perovskite (ppv) phase between 27 and 30 GPa. The ppv phase is observed to the highest pressures achieved (56 GPa) at room temperature and transforms to an as yet unknown phase upon heating. Rietveld structure refinement using monochromatic synchrotron X-ray diffraction data provide models for the perovskite and post-perovskite structures at high pressure. The refined models at 27(1) GPa indicate some inter-octahedral F-F distances rival the average intra-octahedral distance, which may cause instability in the perovskite structure and drive the transformation to the post-perovskite phase. The ratio of A-site to B-site volume (VA/VB) in perovskite structured NaMgF3 (ABX3), spans from 5 in the zero-pressure high-temperature cubic perovskite phase to 4 in this high-pressure perovskite phase at 27(1) GPa, matching the VA/VB value in post-perovskite NaMgF3. Using Rietveld refinement on post-perovskite structure models, we observe discrepancies in pattern fitting, which may be described in terms of development of sample texture in the diamond-anvil cell, recrystallization, or a change of space group to Cmc21, a non-isomorphic subgroup of Cmcm--the space group describing the structure of CaIrO3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]