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The functional properties of piezoelectric ceramic materials, such as barium titanate, are highly dependent on grain size. Lead-free polycrystalline Ba0.85Ca0.15Zr0.1Ti0.9O3 (BCZT) samples were prepared with a combination of the hydrothermal method and spark plasma sintering to achieve grain sizes from 100 nm to 10 μm by varying the maximum sintering temperature. In this range, a transition from a nearly linear dielectric to a ferroelectric response can be seen in macroscopic electromechanical measurements, demonstrating the importance of grain size on functional properties in BCZT. Furthermore, in situ electric field-dependent synchrotron x-ray diffraction measurements were performed to quantify the intrinsic and extrinsic strain contributions and their variations with grain size. At lower grain sizes, the data revealed a significant loss of extrinsic contributions in the piezoelectric behavior, limiting the response to intrinsic contribution associated with lattice strain. For BCZT, a critical grain size between approximately 0.08 and 0.18 μm is proposed, below which no piezoelectric response was observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Raman spectra in the range 80 to 4000 [cm.sup.-1] of wadsleyite II ([Fo.sub.90] with 2.0 wt% [H.sub.2]O and [Fo.sub.88] with 2.7 wt% [H.sub.2]O) have been measured in a diamond-anvil cell with solid rare-gas pressure-transmitting media to 51.4 GPa at room temperature. The ambient Raman spectrum of wadsleyite II is closely similar to wadsleyite modified with bands in frequency regions where the Si[O.sub.4] tetrahedral and OH stretching vibrations of hydrous ringwoodite occur. The most intense, characteristic wadsleyite II modes at 709 and 911 [cm.sup.-1] ([Si.sub.2][O.sub.7] and Si[O.sub.3] symmetric stretching vibrations, respectively) shift continuously to 51.4 GPa showing no evidence for a change in the crystal structure. A striking feature in the high-pressure Raman spectra of wadsleyite II is a significant growth in intensity in the mid-frequency range (300-650 [cm.sup.-1] at [10.sup.-4] GPa and 400-750 [cm.sup.-1] at 51.4 GPa) under compression accompanied by the appearance of new Raman modes near 40 GPa, perhaps a result of resonance electronic Raman scattering. In the OH stretching frequency range, the Raman spectrum of wadsleyite II exhibits at least six modes and their high-pressure behavior agrees with that of [Fo.sub.90] hydrous wadsleyite: OH stretching modes above 3530 [cm.sup.-1] remain approximately constant up to at least 21.8 GPa whereas OH modes at frequencies Keywords: Hydrous wadsleyite II, Raman spectroscopy, diamond-anvil cell, transition zone, high pressure

The high-pressure behavior of synthetic end-member IIb clinochlore, [Mg.sub.5]Al([Si.sub.3]Al)[O.sub.10][(OH).sub.8], has been studied by synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction to 27 GPa at 300 K. A non-quenchable, reversible transformation occurs between 9 and 10 GPa that is dominated by compression normal to the structural layering and has an associated small but significant shear of the 13 angle from 97.2 to 96.3[degrees]. The high-pressure chlorite is more compressible than the low-pressure phase. Diffraction patterns of the high-pressure chlorite are very similar from 10 to 27 GPa, indicating that it persists stably with no significant change in [beta] to very high pressures: [beta] is effectively locked at the transformation to the high-pressure structure. It is proposed that the transformation is not polytypic and that the distortion reflects reorganization of the interlayer hydrogen bonding, possibly involving novel proton behavior as adjacent sheets of cations of the brucite-like and tetrahedral layers close down on the sheet of interlayer protons. The transformation is likely driven by O atom close-packing requirements imposed by pressure.

The effect of pressure upon hydrogen bonding in synthetic end-member clinochlore, ([Mg.sub.5]Al)([Si.sub.3]Al)[O.sub.10][(OH).sub.8], has been studied in situ by high-pressure micro-Raman spectroscopy in a moissanite-anvil cell to 26.5 GPa at 300 K. The ambient spectrum consists of three OH-stretching bands between 3400 and 3650 [cm.sup.-1], attributed to the hydrogen-bonded interlayer OH, and a narrow band at 3679 [cm.sup.-1] that is assigned to the non-hydrogen-bonded OH groups of the talc-like 2:1 layer. The pressure dependence of the OH modes is linear up to 6 GPa. Near 9 GPa a major discontinuity occurs in the pressure dependence of the interlayer OH-stretching modes. It involves frequency increases >100 [cm.sup.-1] that indicate major changes in hydrogen bonding. The OH mode of the 2:1 layer does not show discontinuous behavior at 9 GPa. A further discontinuity occurs at ~16 GPa. This discontinuity affects both interlayer and 2:1 OH, and is likely to be associated with a change in the overall compression mechanism of clinochlore. The spectroscopic behavior is a completely reversible function of pressure. Predictions based upon recent high-pressure diffraction studies of hydrogen bonding and compression of clinochlore suggest that the 9 GPa transition is associated with attainment of an [O.sup.2-]-[O.sup.2] -contact distance of 2.7 [Angstrom].

Author(s): Martin D. Brasier (corresponding author) [1]; Owen R. Green [1]; Andrew P. Jephcoat [1]; Annette K. Kleppe [1]; Martin J. Van Kranendonk [2]; John F. Lindsay [3]; Andrew Steele [...]

Experiments involving the irradiation of water contained within magnesium hydroxide and alumina nanoparticle sludges were conducted and culminated in observations of an increased yield of molecular hydrogen when compared to the yield from the irradiation of bulk water. We show that there is a relationship linking this increased yield to the direct nanoscale ionization mechanism in the nanoparticles, indicating that electron emission from the nanoparticles drives new radiative pathways in the water. Because the chemical changes in these sludges are introduced by irradiation only, we have a genuinely unstirred system. This feature allows us to determine the diffusivity of the dissolved gas. Using the measured gas production rate, we have developed a method for modelling when hydrogen bubble formation will occur within the nanoparticle sludges. This model facilitates the determination of a consistent radiolytic consumption rate coinciding with the observations of bubble formation. Thus, we demonstrate a nanoscale radiation effect directly influencing the formation of molecular hydrogen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High pressure–temperature experiments provide information on the phase diagrams and physical characteristics of matter at extreme conditions and offer a synthesis pathway for novel materials with useful properties. Experiments recreating the conditions of planetary interiors provide important constraints on the physical properties of constituent phases and are key to developing models of planetary processes and interpreting geophysical observations. The laser-heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) is currently the only technique capable of routinely accessing the Earth's lower-mantle geotherm for experiments on non-metallic samples, but large temperature uncertainties and poor temperature stability limit the accuracy of measured data and prohibits analyses requiring long acquisition times. We have developed a novel internal resistive heating (IRH) technique for the DAC and demonstrate stable heating of non-metallic samples up to 3000 K and 64 GPa, as confirmed by in situ synchrotron x-ray diffraction and simultaneous spectroradiometric temperature measurement. The temperature generated in our IRH-DAC can be precisely controlled and is extremely stable, with less than 20 K variation over several hours without any user intervention, resulting in temperature uncertainties an order of magnitude smaller than those in typical laser-heating experiments. Our IRH-DAC design, with its simple geometry, provides a new and highly accessible tool for investigating materials at extreme conditions. It is well suited for the rapid collection of high-resolution P–V–T data, precise demarcation of phase boundaries, and experiments requiring long acquisition times at high temperature. Our IRH technique is ideally placed to exploit the move toward coherent nano-focused x-ray beams at next-generation synchrotron sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High electrostrain and breakdown strength (1 − x)BiFeO3-0.3BaTiO3-xNd(Li0.5Nb0.5)O3 (BF-BT-xNLN) ceramics were studied by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD) in combination with Rietveld refinement and conventional transmission electron microscopy. At zero field, compositions transformed from majority ferroelectric rhombohedral to pseudocubic as the NLN concentration increased, with 0.27% strain achieved at 60 kV cm−1 for x = 0.01. The large measured macroscopic strain was commensurate with peak shifting in XRD peak profiles, yielding 0.6% total strain at 150 kV cm−1. Strain anisotropy of ε200 > ε220 > ε111 was observed but despite the large applied field, no peak splitting was detected. We therefore concluded that the large electrostrain is not achieved through a conventional relaxor to field induced long-range ferroelectric transition. Instead, the data supports a model where local polar regions distort in the direction of the applied field within multiple local symmetries (pseudosymmetry) without long range correlation. We proposed that pseudosymmetry is maintained in BF-BT-xNLN even at high field (150 kV cm−1) due to the large ion radii mismatch and competing ionic/covalent bonding between Ba2+ and Bi3+ ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]