Structural evolution of zeolite levyne under hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic pressure: geometric modelling

Abstract

This is an exploratory study on the high-pressure (HP) structural evolution of a zeolitic framework (with LEV topology) on the basis of geometric modelling and previously published accurate unit-cell constants measured by means of single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The geometric simulations for 11 P values from 0 to 5 GPa gives more insight into the HP-behaviour of levyne, showing that the anomalous elastic behaviour of this zeolite observed under hydrostatic conditions at low P (P<1 GPa) is due to a double change in the compressional mechanism. Since the geometric simulation is not restricted to using the experimentally determined cell parameters, simulations of uniaxial compression along the [001] direction and of compression in the (001) plane have been performed, shedding more light on the compression mechanisms under non-hydrostatic regimes, which are difficult to access experimentally. The mechanisms associated with compressions along different axes provide insight into the hydrostatic compression mechanisms leading to the anomalous elastic behaviour.