Perspective: High pressure transformations in nanomaterials and opportunities in material design

Abstract

Pressure and temperature phase transitions of nanomaterials often differ significantly from those of their bulk parents, offering novel approaches for the engineering of original materials. The importance or even the dominance of surface atoms in the nanoworld enhances the effects of environment, geometry, and intercalation. In the present article, we explore the current knowledge of these effects, as evidenced in the high pressure phase diagrams of nanomaterials such as nanocrystals, carbon nanotubes, fullerites, graphene, and other 2D systems, as well as nanoporous structures like clathrates or zeolites. Recent advances and future challenges in the use of extreme thermodynamic conditions to develop new functional nanomaterials, composites, or devices will be reviewed, along with the specificities of the experimental environment required for these investigations.