High-pressure high-temperature stability of hcp-IrxOs1−x (x = 0.50 and 0.55) alloys

Abstract

Hcp-Ir0.55Os0.45 and hcp-Ir0.50Os0.50 alloys were synthesised by thermal decomposition of single-source precursors in hydrogen atmosphere. Both alloys correspond to a miscibility gap in the Ir–Os binary phase diagram and therefore are metastable at ambient conditions. An in situ powder X-ray diffraction has been used for a monitoring a formation of hcp-Ir0.55Os0.45 alloy from (NH4)2[Ir0.55Os0.45Cl6] precursor. A crystalline intermediate compound and nanodimentional metallic particles with a large concentration of defects has been found as key intermediates in the thermal decomposition process in hydrogen flow. High-temperature stability of titled hcp-structured alloys has been investigated upon compression up to 11 GPa using a multi-anvil press and up to 80 GPa using laser-heated diamond-anvil cells to obtain a phase separation into fcc + hcp mixture. Compressibility curves at room temperature as well as thermal expansion at ambient pressure and under compression up to 80 GPa were collected to obtain thermal expansion coefficients and bulk moduli. hcp-Ir0.55Os0.45 alloy shows bulk moduli B0 = 395 GPa. Thermal expansion coefficients were estimated as α = 1.6·10−5 K−1 at ambient pressure and α = 0.3·10−5 K−1 at 80 GPa. Obtained high-pressure high-temperature data allowed us to construct the first model for pressure-dependent Ir–Os phase diagram.