Materials in Extreme Conditions

Materials can drastically change their properties at varied thermodynamical conditions. Methods of materials analysis in varied temperature and high pressure, hydrothermal conditions, strong electric field and in exited states. Experiments of these kinds are performed for investigating properties of materials, phase diagrams, mechanisms of chemical reactions, transformations of molecules, melting of substances, etc. but also for practical applications in engineering (jet engines), geology and petrology (minerals and rocks kilometers below the surface, rocks formation), biology (life origin, life at oceans depth) and astronomy (interior of planets and stars). Extreme conditions are also applied for synthesizing new materials of exceptional properties. Diffractometric analysis at extreme conditions, used for determining the microstructure of materials, will be described.

Learning outcomes: Students will learn about extreme conditions and thermodynamical aspects of pure sciences of physics, chemistry and biology as well as their practical and technological consequences; the basic thermodynamic description of extreme conditions, methods of their generating, and analytical methods for determining the structure and properties of materials in extreme environments.