An Introduction to High-Pressure Science and Technology

An Introduction to High-Pressure Science and Technology provides you with an understanding of the connections between the different areas involved in the multidisciplinary science of high pressure. The book reflects the deep interdisciplinary nature of the field and its close relationship with industrial applications.

Thirty-nine specialists in high-pressure research guide you through the process of learning why pressure is considered a powerful scientific and technological tool, how pressure can be introduced into the laboratory, and which problems can be solved using this thermodynamic variable. The book presents basic thermodynamic equations and state-of-the-art computational tools. It shows how many experimental techniques, when combined with pressure, are powerful sources of information for understanding natural phenomena and reveal clear paths for the design of novel materials. The book also addresses the responses of microorganisms, Earth constituents, and icy planets to pressure.

Theory: Thermodynamics of Solids under Pressure. Mechanisms of Pressure-Induced Phase Transitions. Ab Initio High-Pressure Simulations. Structure Prediction at High Pressures. Chemical Bonding under Pressure. Experimental Techniques: High-Pressure Generation and Pressure Scales. Structure Determination. Optical Spectroscopy. Vibrational Spectroscopy. Physical Properties of Fluid Media. Applications: Microbiology under Pressure. Food Science and Technology. Biotechnological Sciences and Industrial Applications. High-Pressure and High-Temperature Conditions as Tools for the Synthesis of Inorganic Materials. Structure of Earth’s Interior. Interiors of Icy Moons from an Astrobiology Perspective.

J. Manuel Recio leads a research group in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry of Solids under Extreme Conditions at the University of Oviedo. He has been teaching physical chemistry at the undergraduate and post-graduate levels for more than 25 years. He is the author of more than 100 scientific publications. He received a PhD in chemical sciences from the University of Oviedo.

José Manuel Menéndez is in charge of the computational center in the Centre for Neuroregeneration at the University of Edinburgh. His research work has been featured at international conferences and in prestigious research journals. He received a PhD in chemical physics from the Universidad de Valladolid.

Alberto Otero de la Roza is a research officer at the National Institute for Nanotechnology in Edmonton, Canada, where he works on computational approaches to non-covalent interactions. He received a Ph.D in chemistry from the University of Oviedo.