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Pressure induced densification in a molecular arsenic sulfide glass is studied at ambient temperature using x-ray scattering, absorption and Raman spectroscopic techniques in situ in a diamond anvil cell. The relatively abrupt changes in the position of the first sharp diffraction peak, FSDP, and the pressure-volume equation of state near ∼2 GPa suggest a phase transition between low- and high-density amorphous phases characterized by different densification mechanisms and rates. Raman spectroscopic results provide clear evidence that the phase transition corresponds to a topological transformation between a low-density molecular structure and a high-density network structure via opening of the constituent As4S3 cage molecules and bond switching. Pressure induced mode softening of the high density phase suggests a low dimensional nature of the network. The phase transformation is hysteretically reversible, and therefore, reminiscent of a first-order phase transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We studied the compressibility of monolithic fully dense electrodeposited nanocrystalline Ni (∼29 nm grain size) under both quasihydrostatic and nonhydrostatic conditions up to a nominal pressure of 50 GPa using angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction. We obtained an equation of state consistently and unambiguously from each measured reflection. The apparent bulk modulus measured under nonhydrostatic conditions is larger than that of the corresponding coarse-grained material under either type of compression, but is nearly the same when measured under quasihydrostatic conditions. These results may be consistent with a strength, but not necessarily a bulk modulus, that is enhanced in the nanomaterial relative to its coarse-grained counterparts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines equation of state measurements of chlorite, pyrophyllite and talc. Room temperature compressibility of chlorite; Thermal expansivity of chlorite; Implications of data for phase stabilities in the earth.