New high-pressure phase and equation of state of Ce2Zr2O8

In this paper we report a new high-pressure rhombohedral phase of Ce2Zr2O8 observed from high-pressure angle-dispersive x-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy studies up to nearly 12 GPa. The ambient-pressure cubic phase of Ce2Zr2O8 transforms to a rhombohedral structure beyond 5 GPa with a feeble distortion in the lattice. Pressure evolution of unit-cell volume showed a change in compressibility above 5 GPa. The unit-cell parameters of the high-pressure rhombohedral phase at 12.1 GPa are ah = 14.6791(3) {\AA}, ch = 17.9421(5) {\AA}, V = 3348.1(1) {\AA}3. The structure relation between the parent cubic (P2_13) and rhombohedral (P3_2) phases were obtained by group-subgroup relations. All the Raman modes of the cubic phase showed linear evolution with pressure with the hardest one at 197 cm-1. Some Raman modes of the high-pressure phase have a non-linear evolution with pressure and softening of one low-frequency mode with pressure is found. The compressibility, equation of state, and pressure coefficients of Raman modes of Ce2Zr2O8 are also reported.Comment: 33 pages, 8 figures, 6 table

Synthesis of Group IVB Metals Oxicarbides by Carboreduction Reactions

The metals of the group IV B (Ti, Zr, Hf) present a series of carbides and oxicarbides with scientific and technological interest. Many of these compounds belong to the subsystem "MO - MC" of the pseudoternary "MO - MN - MC" system (where M = Ti, Zr or Hf). In this work carboreduction reactions of TiO2 and ZrO2 were performed in argon atmosphere, using temperatures from 1250° to 1650° and reaction times of 120 min. The oxicarbides obtained were in the range TiC0.16O0.84 to TiC0.73O0.27 and ZrC0.46O0.54 to ZrC0.90O0.10. respectively. The reaction products were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), with the calculation of their cell constants by means of the Rietveld method. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used in the characterization of powdered materials. Additionally, the carborreduction reaction was followed by weight loss