Diaspore crystal structure and compressibility at high pressures and high temperature

Abstract

We have determined the unit-cell parameters of diaspore α-AlO(OH) at high pressures (13.5–27.8 GPa) and at high temperature (1900 K). Experimental data are compared with the theoretically predicted crystal structure variations derived from density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The experimental analysis establishes that the a axial direction is more compressible than the b and c axial directions in the low-pressure range (13.5–18 GPa) and at 1900 K, whereas all three directions show similar behaviors in the high-pressure range (18–27.8 GPa). The diaspore isothermal bulk modulus KT values are 137.6 GPa, 124.8 GPa, and 141.3 GPa, respectively, at 300 K, at 1900 K, and again at 300 K after quenching. By comparison, the diaspore isothermal bulk modulus KT computed at 300 K and at ambient pressure in the framework of the plane-wave pseudopotential approach is equal to 129.3 GPa.