Metastable Materials Accessed under Moderate Pressure Conditions (P ≤ 3.5 GPa) in a Piston-Cylinder Press

Abstract

In this review, we describe different families of metastable materials, some of them with relevant technological applications, which can be stabilized at moderate pressures 2–3.5 GPa in a piston-cylinder press. The synthesis of some of these systems had been previously reported under higher hydrostatic pressures (6–10 GPa), but can be accessed under milder conditions in combination with reactive precursors prepared by soft-chemistry techniques. These systems include perovskites with transition metals in unusual oxidation states (e.g., RNiO3 with Ni3+, R = rare earths); double perovskites such as RCu3Mn4O12 with Jahn–Teller Cu2+ ions at A sites, pyrochlores derived from Tl2Mn2O7 with colossal magnetoresistance, pnictide skutterudites MxCo4Sb12 (M = La, Yb, Ce, Sr, K) with thermoelectric properties, or metal hydrides Mg2MHx (M = Fe, Co, Ni) and AMgH3 (A: alkali metals) with applications in hydrogen storage. The availability of substantial amounts of sample (0.5–1.5 g) allows a complete characterization of the properties of interest, including magnetic, transport, thermoelectric properties and so on, and the structural characterization by neutron or synchrotron X-ray diffraction techniques.