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Low-dimensional boron nitride (BN) chains were prepared in the one-dimensional pores of the siliceous zeolites theta-one (TON) and Mobil-twelve (MTW) by the infiltration, followed by the dehydrocoupling and pyrolysis of ammonia borane under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. High-pressure X-ray diffraction in a diamond anvil cell and in a large-volume device was used to follow in situ these different steps in order to determine the optimal conditions for this process. Based on these results, millimeter-sized samples of BN/TON and BN/MTW were synthesized. Characteristic B-N stretching vibrations of low-dimensional BN were observed by infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The crystal structures were determined using a combination of X-ray diffraction and density functional theory with one and two one-dimensional zig-zag (BN)

Phenylacetylene was inserted and polymerized in 5 nm diameter silica nanotubes under high pressure – high temperature conditions of 0.5 GPa and 437 K in an inert gas. The resulting nanocomposite was characterized by infrared and Raman spectroscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The vibrational spectroscopic data confirmed the formation of π-conjugated polyphenylacetylene and the absence of crystallization of the amorphous nanotubes. Scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, STEM-EDX, measurements confirmed the insertion of the polymer in the channels of the nanotubes and electron diffraction confirmed the amorphous nature of both the polymer and the host SiO2 nanotubes. The obtained nanocomposite is a candidate material for gas sensing applications.

Diphenylbutadiyne was inserted and polymerized in porous AlPO4-54 single crystals under high temperature, high pressure conditions to form a confined, nanostructured π-conjugated polymer.

Our combined high-pressure synchrotron X-ray diffraction and Monte Carlo modeling studies show super-filling of the zeolite, and computational results suggest an occupancy by a maximum of nearly two inserted H

International audience; The structure and vibrational properties of water molecules confined in unidirectional hydrophilic nanopores of AlPO4-54·xH2O were investigated from room temperature down to 10 K by single-crystal synchrotron X-ray diffraction, neutron pair-distribution function analysis, incoherent inelastic neutron scattering, far- and mid-infrared spectroscopy, ab initio molecular dynamics, and grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The ensemble of results indicates that water confined in AlPO4-54·xH2O nanopores does not crystallize down to 10 K and points at the existence of two different types of water networks, whose local arrangement and dynamical behavior become more and more distinguished when lowering the temperature below 150 K. Upon cooling, water close to the zeolite pore wall shows a highly ordered local arrangement induced by the pore wall, with a more defined site occupancy and lower density with respect to bulk water. Conversely, water in the pore core shows a denser, more disordered, and orientationally distorted arrangement and a glassy like behavior down to the lowest investigated temperature.

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Chemical condensation of layers of silicates has been often proposed as an alternative to thermal condensation, finding limited success. The formation of the industrially relevant MCM-22 zeolite (MWW IZA code) from a mild hydrothermal precursor is the most important example of 2D-3D aluminosilicate condensation. Silanols of opposed layers have been condensed by acid-driven dehydration in concentrated nitric acid, as confirmed by powder XRD and 29Si NMR spectroscopy, implying interlayer template extraction and corresponding dealumination. Milder acid treatments favour template extraction and shrinkage of interlayer distance, but do not provide significant silanol condensation. Template extraction is further favoured by degradation of the organics in the presence of a Cu2+ homogeneous catalyst.

International audience; Recently, filling zeolites with gaseous hydrocarbons at high pressures in diamond anvil cells has been carried out to synthesize novel polymer-guest/zeolite-host nanocomposites with potential, intriguing applications, although the small amount of materials, 10–7 cm3, severely limited true technological exploitation. Here, liquid phenylacetylene, a much more practical reactant, was polymerized in the 12 Å channels of the aluminophosphate Virginia Polytechnic Institute—Five (VFI) at about 0.8 GPa and 140 °C, with large volumes in the order of 0.6 cm3. The resulting polymer/VFI composite was investigated by synchrotron X-ray diffraction and optical and 1H, 13C, and 27Al nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The materials, consisting of disordered π-conjugated polyphenylacetylene chains in the pores of VFI, were deposited on quartz crystal microbalances and tested as gas sensors. We obtained promising sensing performances to water and butanol vapors, attributed to the finely tuned nanostructure of the composites. High-pressure synthesis is used here to obtain an otherwise unattainable true technological material.

High-pressure X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy in a diamond anvil cell were used to study the insertion of the chemical hydrogen storage material, ammonia borane, in the one-dimensional pores of the zeolite theta-1 TON. Heating of this material up to 300 °C under pressures up to 5 GPa resulted in the release of a significant amount of hydrogen due to the conversion of ammonia borane confined in the channels of TON and outside the zeolite to polyaminoborane and then polyiminoborane chains. The filling of TON with hydrogen resulted in a much greater increase in unit cell volume than that corresponding to thermal expansion of normal compact inorganic solids. This process at high temperature is accompanied by a phase transition from the collapsed high-pressure Pbn21 form to the more symmetric Cmc21 phase with expanded pores. This material has a high capacity for hydrogen adsorption under high-temperature, high-pressure conditions.

International audience; Using a highly stoichiometric magnetite, the pressure-induced phase transitions of Fe3O4 have been revisited here by performing Fe K-edge X-ray absorption and magnetic circular dichroism measurements up to P = 65 GPa at room temperature and 71 GPa at 20 K. We have observed a structural transition at around 27 GPa from magnetite to a high-pressure phase h-Fe3O4 with the loss of the net ordered magnetic moments for both temperatures. The orthorhombic CaTi2O4-type (Bbmm) structure of the high-pressure phase h-Fe3O4 has been determined by combining experimental studies and theoretical simulations of the Fe K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectra. The long-time discussed pressure induced spin crossover, and inverse to normal spinel structure transitions in Fe3O4 can be deterministically excluded from the present study up to ∼65 GPa.

Extreme pressures and temperatures are known to drastically affect the chemistry of iron oxides, resulting in numerous compounds forming homologous series nFeOmFe2O3 and the appearance of FeO2. Here, based on the results of in situ single-crystal x-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, x-ray absorption spectroscopy, and density-functional theory+dynamical mean-field theory calculations, we demonstrate that iron in high-pressure cubic FeO2 and isostructural FeO2H0.5 is ferric (Fe3+), and oxygen has a formal valence less than 2. Reduction of oxygen valence from 2, common for oxides, down to 1.5 can be explained by a formation of a localized hole at oxygen sites. © 2021 American Physical Society. We acknowledge the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY, PETRA III), the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF), and the Advance Photon Source (APS) for provision of beamtime. N. D. and L. D. thank the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, Germany (BMBF, Grant No. 05K19WC1) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG Projects No. DU 954–11/1, No. DU 393–9/2, and No. DU 393–13/1) for financial support. N. D. and I. A. A. thank the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linköping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU No. 2009 00971). Electronic structure calculations were supported by the Russian Science Foundation (Project No. 18-12-00492). Theoretical analysis of chemical bonding was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation in the framework of Increase Competitiveness Program of NUST “MISIS” (No. K2-2019-001) implemented by a governmental decree, No. 211. Support from the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Scholar Grant No. KAW-2018.0194), the Swedish Government Strategic Research Areas and SeRC, and the Swedish Research Council (VR) Grant No. 2019-05600 is gratefully acknowledged.

The journal of physical chemistry / C 125(43), 24249 - 24253 (2021). doi:10.1021/acs.jpcc.1c07791, Synchrotron X-ray diffraction was used to investigate the insertion of helium in the archetypal siliceous zeolite Mobil-Five (MFI). Due to the very high degree of helium penetration into the pores and the framework, the monoclinic form of MFI is stabilized over a large pressure interval, and the compressibility is much lower than when the pores are empty or filled with any other guest molecules or atoms except hydrogen. The structure of MFI transformed from monoclinic P2$_1$/n to orthorhombic Pnma with a discontinuous volume increase of 3% at pressures close to 10 GPa due to the filling process. The material is highly strained at pressures above 42 GPa but remains crystalline. The strain is released on decompression and a highly crystalline material is recovered., Published by Soc., Washington, DC

The insertion of oxygen and nitrogen molecules in the one-dimensional (1D) pore system of the zeolite TON was studied at high pressure by vibrational spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Monte Carlo (MC) molecular modeling. Rietveld refinements and MC modeling indicate that, on average, six diatomic molecules per unit cell enter the pores of the zeolite. This induces changes in compressibility and distortion related to the Cmc21-to-Pbn21 phase transition compared to the empty-pore material. The filling behavior with N2 and O2 under pressure is similar to that of argon, suggesting that the kinetic diameter, which is very close in these three systems, plays a major role. The orientation of the diatomic molecules appears to have a rather minor effect on filling occurring at a slightly higher pressure for N2, which has a larger kinetic diameter. Both inserted molecules, initially not showing any marked orientation, begin to exhibit a degree of orientational order above 2 GPa.

International audience; Zeolites are known as scaffolds for the assembly of molecules via non-covalent interactions yielding organized supramolecular materials. Yet their potential in driving the growth of lowdimensional systems requiring covalent bond formation is still unexplored. We incorporated 1,5hexadiene in the channels of a high-silica mordenite and analyzed the material by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetry and modeling techniques. Due to the few zeolite acid sites, 1,5-hexadiene experiences a slow conversion to a polymer mainly formed by cyclopentane units and featuring short side chains that are able to fit the channels. The shapedirecting abilities of zeolite frameworks play a twofold role, involving first the organization of the monomers inside the void-space and then the linear growth of the chain dictated by the channel geometry. These findings highlight the molding action of zeolites in directing transformations of covalent bonds under ambient conditions and may provide insights for obtaining confined polymers with intriguing prospective applications.

We report a combined experimental and theoretical study of the lattice dynamics of different high-pressure phases of bismuth and their pressure dependence. The stability and the lattice dynamics of...

International audience; The dehydration of the large pore aluminophosphate AlPO4-54•xH2O was studied in situ as a function of vacuum pressure at room temperature by infrared spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction. On polycrystalline samples, under primary vacuum, the adsorbed water is removed very rapidly. The structural water in the AlO6 octahedra is then removed slowly with the quantity of the fully dehydrated form gradually increasing from 43 to 65% of the total material. This results in a two-phase mixture of fully dehydrated and a distinct partially dehydrated AlPO4-54•1/2H2O phase containing structural water. These phases have almost identical a cell parameters and very close c parameters. Secondary vacuum increases the amount of fully dehydrated material to more than 76%. Prolonged heating under vacuum increases the amount of fully dehydrated material to 90%. On single crystal samples, removal of adsorbed water is slower and results in a reduction in crystal quality, however prolonged exposure to primary vacuum yielded fully dehydrated material without the need for heating. The monoclinic structure of anhydrous AlPO4-54, space group Cm, with a doubled unit cell was confirmed using single crystal synchrotron x-ray diffraction data.

In this work we aim to study the effect of temperature on the mechanical properties of a solid. For this, we have introduced a new first-principles based methodology to obtain the thermal variation of the elastic constants of NiTiSn, a multifunctional Heusler compound. In parallel using X-ray diffraction, we have measured the isothermal bulk modulus at 300 K. The agreement between the calculations and the experiments is within the experimental error bars showing the accuracy of the calculations. Using two other numerical methods, which give all coherent results, we have shown that NiTiSn conserves its very good mechanical properties up to 1500 K. In particular at 700 K (the best working temperature for thermoelectric applications), NiTiSn remains a ductile and robust material making it a compound of choice for applications in which large temperature fluctuations are present.

Zeolites are known as scaffolds for the assembly of molecules via non-covalent interactions, yielding organized supramolecular materials. Yet their potential in driving the growth of low-dimensional systems requiring covalent bond formation is still uncharted. We incorporated 1,5-hexadiene in the channels of a high‑silica mordenite and analyzed the material by infrared spectroscopy, X-Ray powder diffraction, thermogravimetric and modeling techniques. Thanks to the few zeolite acid sites, 1,5‑hexadiene experiences a slow conversion to a polymer, mainly formed by cyclopentane units and featuring short side chains able to fit the channels. The shape-directing abilities of zeolite framework play a two-fold role, involving first the organization of the monomers inside the void-space and then the linear growth of the chain, dictated by the channel geometry. These findings highlight the molding action of zeolites in directing transformations of covalent bonds under ambient conditions and may provide insights for obtaining confined polymers with intriguing perspective applications.

International audience; The negative thermal expansion material potassium cadmium dicyanoargentate, KCd[Ag(CN) 2 ] 3 , is studied at high pressure using a combination of X-ray single-crystal diffraction, X-ray powder diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. In common with the isostructural manganese analogue, KMn[Ag(CN) 2 ] 3 , this material is shown to exhibit very strong negative linear compressibility (NLC) in the crystallographic c direction due to structure hinging. We find increased structural flexibility results in enhanced NLC and NTE properties, but this also leads to two pressure-induced phase transitionsto very large unit cells involving octahedral tilting and shearing of the structurebelow 2 GPa. The presence of potassium cations has an important effect on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of this family, while the chemical versatility demonstrated here is of considerable interest to tune unusual mechanical properties for application. ■ INTRODUCTION Materials where external stimuli induces an anomalous response, such as expansion upon cooling (negative thermal expansion, NTE 1−3) or on application of hydrostatic pressure (negative linear compressibility, NLC 4,5), have recently received considerable attention. These materials that "break the rules"as a result of specific, and therefore rare, elastic anomalies 6−8 are curious from a fundamental point of view but might also be revolutionary for a range of technologies including interferometric pressure sensors, pressure-controlled or pressure-sensitive electronic devices, and smart actua-tion. 2,4,9−11 The ability to design materials with unusual properties is therefore a key focus of the field: can we understand these elastic anomalies so that we can tune the magnitude and/or range of negative responses? Negative thermal expansion may occur in one, two, or all principal directions without violating thermodynamics. 12,13 Thus, for example, the volume coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE), () V V V T p 1 α = ∂ ∂ , takes large negative values in zirconium tungstate ZrW 2 O 8 and zinc(II) cyanide Zn(CN) 2 over large temperature ranges. 14 Under hydrostatic pressure, however, volume must always reduce and so the volume compressibility (() K V V V p T 1 = − ∂ ∂ , conventionally formulated as the bulk modulus, B = (K V) −1), must be definite and positive. 15 Expansion under pressure can occur in one or two directions, as long as this is coupled to volume reduction. 5,12,16 Therefore, negative linear compressibility (NLC)the expansion in one principal direction of a material under hydrostatic pressureis conceptually and empirically related to linear-NTE. In both cases, anomalous response relies on mechanical anisotropy. The so-called "wine-rack" model is often invoked where mechanical hinging allows linear expansion coupled to volume reduction on increasing pressure or decreasing temperature. 5,8 Attention in this field has focused on a class of materials known as coordination polymers (CPs), in particular due to the very large magnitude of responses found in comparison to conventional oxide-based materials. 7 Examples that show large NTE and NLC include cyanide frameworks such as Ag 3 [Co-(CN) 6 ] (refs 17 and 18), KMn[Ag(CN) 2 ] 3 (refs 19 and 20), Zn[Au(CN) 2 ] 2 (refs 21 and 22), and metal−organic frameworks 23 (MOFs) such as MIL-53 (ref 24), UTSA-16 (ref 25), ZAG-4 (ref 26), and [NH 4 ][Zn(HCOO) 3 ] (ref 27). In many cases, mechanical response can be predicted in these systems by considering the framework as a set of rigid connectors and hinges, sodepending on geometry and topologyNTE or

International audience; High temperature, high pressure conditions were used to insert liquid bismuth in 4-6 nm diameter amorphous silica nanotubes. A combination of transmission electron microscopy and neutron powder diffrac-tion indicate that the final composite consists in 5-6 nm semi-conducting Bi nanowires confined in insulating mesoporous -quartz. Such a nanostructured material could be of considerable interest for thermo-electric applications. HIGHLIGHTS:  Bismuth was inserted into 4-6 nm silica nanotubes under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions  The host amorphous nanotubes crystallize in the form of -quartz  The obtained nanocomposite consists of 5-6 nm Bi nanowires imbedded in mesoporous -quartz  The formation of Bi nanowires modifies their physical properties compared to bulk Bi

The negative thermal expansion material potassium cadmium dicyanoargentate, KCd[Ag(CN)2]3, is studied at high pressure using a combination of X-ray single-crystal diffraction, X-ray powder diffraction, infrared and Raman spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations. In common with the isostructural manganese analogue, KMn[Ag(CN)2]3, this material is shown to exhibit very strong negative linear compressibility (NLC) in the crystallographic c direction due to structure hinging. We find increased structural flexibility results in enhanced NLC and NTE properties, but this also leads to two pressure-induced phase transitions—to very large unit cells involving octahedral tilting and shearing of the structure—below 2 GPa. The presence of potassium cations has an important effect on the mechanical and thermodynamic properties of this family, while the chemical versatility demonstrated here is of considerable interest to tune unusual mechanical properties for application.

Molecular nitrogen is a benchmark system for condensed matter and, in particular, for looking at universal properties of strongly confined dense systems. We conducted Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements on a dense and disordered form of molecular nitrogen subnanoconfined in a noncatalytic pure SiO2 zeolite under pressure, up to 50 GPa. In this form, N-2-N-2 interactions and, consequently, distances are found to be very dose to those of bulk N-2 and intramolecular interactions progressively weaken upon increasing pressure. Surprisingly, the filled zeolite is still crystalline at 50 GPa with silicon in tetrahedral coordination by oxygen, which is a record pressure for this type of coordination among all the known forms of silica. We have thus found a rationale for the polymerization of a number molecules occurring in the microchannels of noncatalytic zeolites under pressure, where the pressure threshold is found to be very similar to that observed in bulk samples.

International audience; A silicalite-1/bismuth composite was synthesized by insertion of liquid bismuth in the 5.5 Å diameter pores of the zeolite under high-pressure, high-temperature conditions. The insertion of bismuth stabilizes the structure with respect to pressure-induced amorphization. Transmission electron microscopy indicated the presence of chains of atoms, which correspond to the 5.5 Å diameter of the host silicalite-1 structure. Neutron powder diffraction also confirmed the insertion of Bi in the pores of silicalite-1. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the insertion of bismuth results in formation of chains with short and long Bi-Bi distances in the pores of the host silicalite-1 linked to the framework by van der Waal's interactions. The material is predicted to be a semiconductor with a band gap of 0.4 eV.

The incorporation of guest species in zeolites has been found to strongly modify their mechanical behavior and their stability with respect to amorphization at high pressure (HP). Here we report the strong effect of H2O on the pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) in hydrated AlPO4-17. The material was investigated in-situ at HP by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction in diamond anvil cells by using non- and penetrating pressure transmitting media (PTM), respectively, silicone oil and H2O. Surprisingly, in non-penetrating PTM, its structural response to pressure was similar to its anhydrous phase at lower pressures up to ~1.4 GPa, when the amorphization was observed to start. Compression of the structure of AlPO4-17 is reduced by an order of magnitude when the material is compressed in H2O, in which amorphization begins in a similar pressure range as in non-penetrating PTM. The complete and irreversible amorphization was observed at ~9.0 and ~18.7 GPa, respectively, in non- and penetrating PTM. The present results show that the insertion of guest species can be used to strongly modify the stability of microporous material with respect to PIA, by up to an order of magnitude.

International audience; Condensed O2 tends to form clusters, even with a long-range order. In particular, in solid oxygen, strong intermolecular charge transfer at high pressures leads to the formation of (O2)4 tetramers above 10 GPa, in the ε-O2 phase, with weak O2–O2 chemical bonds. Indeed, ε-O2 is entirely made of these tetramers. We conducted experimental investigations on strongly densified O2 in a different environment, that is to say in the form of a subnano phase build up within the 1D microchannels of a purely siliceous, inert zeolite, TON, at pressures of 0.5–20 GPa, by means of diamond anvil cells. Our X-ray diffraction and infrared and Raman spectroscopy results consistently show that oxygen forms clusters in this nanophase, above 10 GPa, similar to ε-O2, except that the clusters are rather of the type of weakly bonded (O2)2 dimers in this case. Also, by analogy with bulk oxygen, we show that the O2 spin within the dimers departs from S = 1 toward lower values, upon increasing pressure. Our findings thereby add to the general view on essential properties of highly dense oxygen.

International audience; The insertion of H2O in the siliceous zeolites TON (Theta-one) and MFI (Mobil Five) was studied at pressures up to 0.9 GPa by synchrotron X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and Monte Carlo modeling. TON (orthorhombic, Cmc21) and MFI (monoclinic, P21/n) have 1D and 3D pore systems, respectively. H2O insertion was quantified by a combination of structure refinements and Monte Carlo modeling. Complete pore filling is observed at 0.9 GPa in the high-pressure forms of TON (orthorhombic, Pbn21) and MFI (orthorhombic, Pnma). This corresponds to more than twice as many H2O molecules per SiO2 unit in the 3D pore system of MFI than in the 1D pore system of TON. This results in a greater swelling of the MFI system as compared to the TON system upon insertion. In both cases, both experiments and modeling indicate that the density of water in the pores is close to that of bulk water at the same pressure. A greater degree of molecular disorder is observed in the 3D H2O network of MFI. Infrared spectroscopy indicates a weakening of the hydrogen bonds associated with geometrical constraints because of confinement. The majority of the H2O molecules are extruded on pressure release, indicating that this insertion is reversible to a great extent, which gives rise to the molecular spring properties of these materials.

International audience; Single crystals and polycrystalline samples of barbosalite Fe3(PO4)2(OH)2 iron phosphate were successfully synthesized by hydrothermal method at low pressure and temperature. Careful investigations of the crystal structure by high resolution X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy evidence a complex barbosalite framework where trimers of face sharing FeO6 octahedra along the direction are connected by an additional Fe site, partly occupied. Despite this structural disorder, the spins order in a rather simple magnetic structure below 160 ​K. The corresponding magnetic point group of P21 makes the barbosalite a promising candidate for the design of new multiferroics.

International audience; GaAsO4 is the highest performance piezoelectric material of the MIIIXVO4 alpha-quartz type group. First principles based calculations of the pure FeAsO4 show that the piezoelectric properties are strongly improved by replacing Ga3+ by a chemical element of the d-bloc like Fe3+. For GaAsO4, our calculations give, d11 = 7.08 and d14 = 5.76 pC/N, while these values are significantly higher in FeAsO4 to reach d11 = 18.77 and d14 = 13.78 pC/N; about a factor of three greater than in GaAsO4 due to the increase of the elastic compliances of FeAsO4 with respect to GaAsO4. These results show that the electronic configuration and particularly the involvement of the d-orbitals in the M-O bonds in the MIIIO4 tetrahedron could be at the origin of this increasing. By considering a linear dependence of d11 or d14 between the parent compounds, GaAsO4 and FeAsO4, we get the following equations for the Ga(1-x)FexAsO4 solid solution: d11 [pC/N] = 11.689 xFe + 7.082 and d14 [pC/N] = 8.021 xFe + 5.762. These predictions motivated the first synthesis of mixed Ga(1-x)FexAsO4 solid solutions with x = 0,09; 0,18 and 0,45. The hydrated compounds, Ga1-xFexAsO4,2H2O, were obtained by hydrothermal synthesis and the alpha-quartz phases Ga1-xFexAsO4 were crystallized with a thermal treatment in an oven at 600 °C for 24h. XRD patterns show that the cell parameters are in accordance with a Vegard's law for the orthorhombic hydrated phases (Pbca space group) and for the trigonal dehydrated alpha-quartz phases (P3121 space group). Raman spectroscopy data obtained for the hydrated phases confirm the results of the literature on FeAsO4·2H2O, GaAsO4·2H2O and other arsenate analogues as well as their substituted analogues on the M and X sites. For the dehydrated alpha-quartz phases, all the main peaks observed in Raman spectra have been observed and the assigned by analyzing the experimental spectra measured in solid solutions and the calculated spectra in the parent end-member compounds. DFT calculations were used to identify the Raman vibrational modes. As in the case of GaAsO4, no libration mode of oxygen atoms is present for FeAsO4 that could lead to a very high thermal stability. These results prove the interest of α-quartz type FexGa1-xAsO4 solid solutions.

International audience; First principles calculations of the α-quartz phase of Si1−xSnxO2 predict great benefits of the substitution of Si by Sn with the d11 piezoelectric constant (5.72 pC N−1) for Si0.8Sn0.2O2, which is predicted to be twice that of quartz (2.85 pC N−1). Furthermore, the value of the d11 piezoelectric constant increases four times in the case of substitution with tin in comparison with that for germanium. The first Sn-substituted α-quartz single crystals have been grown under hydrothermal conditions, but the degree of substitution is still very low (xmax = 0.001). The analyses of additional compounds recovered after growth runs indicate that Sn crystallizes in a six-fold coordination with silicon by forming a mixed Si/Sn oxide in the autoclave, which may explain the low degree of substitution in the α-quartz single crystals. A new compound with the formula Na2Si4SnO9(OH)4 is identified, and the structure is determined. This paper predicts high performance of the Sn-substituted single quartz crystals. Crystal growth experiments show that Sn substitution is possible in the structure of quartz-type by using a crystal growth process favoring the formation of four-fold coordinated Sn species [SnO4] in the solution for obtaining a high Sn ratio in the quartz-crystals.

SnO2 powders and single crystal have been studied under high pressure using Raman spectroscopy and ab initio simulations. The pressure-induced changes are shown to drastically depend on the form of the samples. The single crystal exhibits phase transitions as reported in the literature, whereas powder samples show a disordering of the oxygen sublattice in the first steps of compression. This behavior is proposed to be related to the defect density, an interpretation supported by ab initio simulations. The link between the defect density and an amorphouslike Raman signal is discussed in terms of the invasive percolation of the anionic sublattice. The resistance of the cationic sublattice to the disorder propagation is discussed in terms of cation close packing. This result on SnO2 may be extended to other systems and questions a “traditional” crystallographic description based on polyhedra packing, as a decoupling between both sublattices is observed.

SnO_{2} powders and single crystal have been studied under high pressure using Raman spectroscopy and ab initio simulations. The pressure-induced changes are shown to drastically depend on the form of the samples. The single crystal exhibits phase transitions as reported in the literature, whereas powder samples show a disordering of the oxygen sublattice in the first steps of compression. This behavior is proposed to be related to the defect density, an interpretation supported by ab initio simulations. The link between the defect density and an amorphouslike Raman signal is discussed in terms of the invasive percolation of the anionic sublattice. The resistance of the cationic sublattice to the disorder propagation is discussed in terms of cation close packing. This result on SnO_{2} may be extended to other systems and questions a "traditional" crystallographic description based on polyhedra packing, as a decoupling between both sublattices is observed.

International audience; The insertion of neon and argon in the 1-D pore system of the zeolite TON was studied at high pressure by X-ray diffraction and by Monte Carlo (MC) molecular modeling. Rietveld refinements of the crystal structure of TON and the MC results indicate that 12 Ne atoms enter the unit cell of TON, completely filling the pores. This is much greater than the degree of filling observed for argon, which due to size considerations lies in a vertical plane in the pores. A phase transition from the Cmc21 to a Pbn21 structure occurs at 0.6 GPa with cell doubling. The compressibility and structural distortions, such as pore ellipticity, are considerably reduced as compared to the argon-filled or the empty-pore material. In addition, the crystalline form persists to pressures of the order of 20 GPa, and the Pbn21 phase is recovered after decompression. The results show the very strong and different effects of pore filling by noble gases on the structural stability and mechanical properties of this prototypical 1-D zeolite-type material.

$\ensuremath{\alpha}$-Quartz-type gallium phosphate and representative compositions in the $\mathrm{AlP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{GaP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ solid solution were studied by x-ray powder diffraction and absorption spectroscopy, Raman scattering, and by first-principles calculations up to pressures of close to 30 GPa. A phase transition to a metastable orthorhombic high-pressure phase along with some of the stable orthorhombic $Cmcm\mathrm{CrV}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$-type material is found to occur beginning at 9 GPa at $320{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$ in $\mathrm{GaP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$. In the case of the $\mathrm{AlP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}\text{\ensuremath{-}}\mathrm{GaP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ solid solution at room temperature, only the metastable orthorhombic phase was obtained above 10 GPa. The possible crystal structures of the high-pressure forms of $\mathrm{GaP}{\mathrm{O}}_{4}$ were predicted from first-principles calculations and the evolutionary algorithm USPEX. A predicted orthorhombic structure with a $Pmn{2}_{1}$ space group with the gallium in sixfold and phosphorus in fourfold coordination was found to be in the best agreement with the combined experimental data from x-ray diffraction and absorption and Raman spectroscopy. This method is found to very powerful to better understand competition between different phase transition pathways at high pressure.

International audience; Under a high pressure of helium, the volume change of amorphous silica is much smaller than expected from its elastic properties. This is due to helium insertion in the free volume of the glass network. Here, we report spectroscopic experiments using either helium or neon as penetrating pressurizing media and molecular simulation that indicate a relationship between the amount of gas adsorbed and the strain of the network. A generalized poromechanical approach, describing the elastic properties of microporous materials upon adsorption, is shown to successfully describe the physics of deformation of such silica glasses in which the free volume exists only at the sub-nanometer scale.

Molecular nitrogen is a benchmark system for condensed matter and, in particular, for looking at universal properties of strongly confined dense systems. We conducted Raman and X-ray diffraction measurements on a dense and disordered form of molecular nitrogen subnanoconfined in a noncatalytic pure SiO

AlPO4-17, known as the oxide with the highest negative thermal expansion (NTE), was studied under high pressure by angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (XRD), mid- and far-infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Upon increasing pressure, the closure of the (P–O–Al) angle destabilizes the porous AlPO4-17 structure, which drives the amorphization process. On the basis of the decrease in intensity of the XRD lines and broadening of the IR modes, the material was found to begin to amorphize near 1 GPa. XRD, mid- and far-IR analysis evidenced pressure-induced framework softening and complete irreversible amorphization near 2.5 GPa corresponding to the collapse of the pores. The bulk modulus and its first pressure derivative (B0 = 31.2(5) GPa and B′0 = −10.1(3)) at ambient temperature were determined by fitting a third order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state (EOS) to the pressure–volume data. The material is extremely compressible and exhibits an elastic instability. Anomalous (negative) values of B′0 are very rare and have been observed previously for cyanides and metal–organic frameworks. Such an instability appears to be characteristic of materials, which exhibit strong NTE behavior and indicates a link between NTE and anomalous compressibility behavior. Mid-IR, far-IR, nuclear magnetic resonance, and pair distribution function analysis of the new amorphous form allow an amorphization mechanism to be proposed corresponding to a collapse of the structure around its pores retaining the columns built up of cancrinite cages and hexagonal prisms, based on alternating AlO4 and PO4 tetrahedra. An increase in coordination number of 10% of the Al atoms was observed. The pressure-induced amorphization in the strong NTE material AlPO4-17 opens the door to the development of new technological applications as crystal–amorphous nanocomposites with zero or specifically selected thermal expansion coefficients.

The siliceous zeolite TON with a 1-D pore system was studied at high pressure by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and DFT calculations. The behavior of this material was investigated using nonpenetrating pressure transmitting media. Under these conditions, a phase transition from the Cmc2(1) to a Pbn2(1) structure occurs at close to 0.6 GPa with doubling of the primitive unit cell based on Rietveld refinements. The pores begin to collapse with a strong increase in their ellipticity. Upon decreasing the pressure below this value the initial structure was not recovered. DFT calculations indicate that the initial empty pore Cmc2(1) phase is dynamically unstable. Irreversible, progressive pressure-induced amorphization occurs upon further increases in pressure up to 21 GPa. These changes are confirmed in the mid-and far-infrared spectra by peak splitting at the Cmc2(1) to Pbn2(1) phase transition and strong peak broadening at high pressure due to amorphization.

Microporous AlPO4-54·xH2O, which exhibits the largest pores among zeolites and aluminophosphates with a diameter of 12.7 A, was investigated at high pressure by X-ray powder diffraction and Raman spectroscopy in diamond anvil cells. The material was found to begin to amorphize near 2 GPa using either a nonpenetrating pressure transmitting medium (PTM) silicone oil or no PTM. When H2O is used as a PTM, amorphization begins at a lower pressure of 0.9 GPa. In this case, superhydration effects are observed and higher relative unit cell volumes are observed prior to the beginning of pressure-induced amorphization (PIA) as compared to the experiment in silicone oil due to insertion of the H2O molecules in the pores. In all cases, in these experiments at room temperature, amorphization was irreversible. Ex situ experiments were used to investigate the local structure of pressure-amorphized AlPO4-54·xH2O by nuclear magnetic resonance and by X-ray absorption spectroscopy, which show that, upon increasing pressure,...

International audience; The counterintuitive phenomenon of negative linear compressibility (NLC) is a highly desirable but rare property exploitable in the development of artificial muscles1, actuators2 and next-generation pressure sensors3. In all cases, material performance is directly related to the magnitude of intrinsic NLC response. Here we show the molecular framework material zinc(II) dicyanoaurate(I), Zn[Au(CN)2]2, exhibits the most extreme and persistent NLC behaviour yet reported: under increasing hydrostatic pressure its crystal structure expands in one direction at a rate that is an order of magnitude greater than both the typical contraction observed for common engineering materials4 and also the anomalous expansion in established NLC candidates3. This extreme behaviour arises from the honeycomb-like structure of Zn[Au(CN)2]2 coupling volume reduction to uniaxial expansion5, and helical Au...Au 'aurophilic' interactions6 accommodating abnormally large linear strains by functioning as supramolecular springs.