High pressure device

• Subject Area: Molecular Chemistry
• Term: Funded in 2020
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 446459511

The outstanding preparation possibilities of the institute of Inorganic Chemistry of the University at Cologne shall be extendend to high-pressure syntheses. In the research group of Wickleder, who has the leadership for this application, oxoanionic compounds should be prepared and the dependence of the structures on the pressure during synthesis will be investigated. With respect to the extension of preparative methods to the high-pressure region further project have been developed. On one hand halides and chalcogenides of noble metals shall be investigated. They are not fully characterized up to now but have, at least in part, interesting electronic and magnetic properties. This is a joint project with research group from the institute of solid state physics. Moreover, high-pressure preparations should be used in a cooperative research project, which is devoted to the element uranium. The aim of the research cluster is the preparation and characterization of low valent uranium compounds. The group of Ruschewitz has strong expertise in carbide chemistry, and the option to perform reactions at high pressure and high temperature is a very promising extension for this chemistry. For materials chemistry, as performed in the Mathur group, high-pressure chemistry is also valuable. An example would be the investigation of pressure dependent precursor decompositions. Finally, the young researcher group of Dr. Bruns should be mentioned. He is working on silicate-analogue networks consisting of connected tetrahedra. The structures, i.e. the type of tetrahedra connections is strongly depending on the pressure during the synthesis. It is of utmost importance that the high-pressure reactions lead to products in amounts that allow for further physical characterizations. Moreover, it is necessary that the reactions can be performed at high temperature. For the execution of experiments under these framing conditions, the usage of a Walker module is the state of the art method. It allows for the transformation of the uni-axial pressure generated by the mechanical press into a quasi hydrostatic pressure in the centre of the module. At the same time, a reaction temperature up to 1600 °C is possible.

• DFG Programme: Major Research Instrumentation
• Major Instrumentation: Hochdruckpresse
• Instrumentation Group: 0850 Höchstdruckpressen, Tetraederpressen
• Applicant Institution: Universität zu Köln
• Leader: Professor Dr. Mathias Wickleder