Materials In Extreme Conditions

Timetable

15 h lectures + 30 h lab

Module aim (aims)

The main aim of this course is to provide students with knowledge on conducting experiments at conditions different from ambient i.e. high pressure and high/low temperature. Students will learn:
• why thermodynamic conditions cannot be ignored;
• how the temperature and pressure affect everything;
• preference and phase diagrams versus pressure, temperature, composition, etc.
• temperature/stress-strain relation;
• how to use a diamond-anvil cell;
• experimental set-ups for varied-temperature and -pressure in x-ray diffraction;
• how to process experimental data

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

Basic knowledge of crystallography

Syllabus

Lecture: 15h; Tutorial: 30h Titles of laboratory classes:
Week 1: drawing phase and preference diagrams of selected compounds, for example H2O, Au:Cu alloys;
Week 2: the power of compression: pressure effects on different materials, food sterilization;
Week 3: diamond-anvil cell (DAC) operation: loading samples and increasing pressure;
Week 4: optical microscopy with a DAC: high-pressure freezing and re-crystallization;
Week 5: high-pressure calibration and spectroscopy;
Week 6: high-pressure x-ray diffraction – powder and single crystal experiments;
Week 7: Extreme-conditions data analysis;
Week 8: Strain tensor and the final exam

Reading list

1. High-Pressure Crystallography, A. Katrusiak, P. F. McMillan, 2004, Kluwer, Dordrecht.
2. A. Katrusiak, Acta Cryst. A, 2008, 64, 135-148.