A single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of a sample of natural gedrite from North Carolina, USA, with the crystal-chemical formula ANa0.47B(Na0.03Mg0.97Fe0.942+Mn0.02Ca0.04)C(Mg3.52Fe0.282+Al1.15Ti0.054+)T(Si6.31Al1.69)O22W(OH)2, up to a maximum pressure of 7 GPa, revealed the following bulk and axial moduli and their pressure derivatives: K0T = 91.2(6) GPa [K0T' = 6.3(2)]; K0T(a) = 60.5(6) GPa [K0T(a)' = 6.1(2)]; K0T(b) = 122.8(2.6) GPa [K0T(b)' = 5.7(8)]; K0T (c) = 119.7(1.5) GPa [K0T(c)' = 5.1(5)]. Gedrite has a much higher bulk modulus than anthophyllite (66 GPa) and proto-amphibole (64 GPa). All of the three axial moduli of gedrite are higher than those of these two other orthoamphiboles. The greater stiffness of gedrite along [100] is due to its high ANa content, which is almost zero in anthophyllite and proto-amphibole. The much greater stiffness parallel to the (100) plane of gedrite compared with the two other amphiboles is probably due to its high CAl content. A comparison is made with published data available for orthorhombic B(Mg, Mn, Fe) and monoclinic BCa amphiboles to identify correlations between crystal-chemistry and compressibility in amphiboles.

In this work a single crystal of synthetic hercynite, FeAl2O4, was investigated by X-ray diffraction up to 7.5 GPa and at room temperature, in order to determine its pressure–volume equation of state. The unit-cell volume decreases non-linearly with a reduction of 3.4% (i.e. 18.43 Å3). The pressure–volume data were fitted to a third-order Birch-Murnaghan equation of state providing the following coefficients: V0 = 542.58(3)Å3, KT0 = 193.9(1.7) GPa, K' = 6.0(5). These results are consistent with previous investigations of Cr and Al spinels measured with the same experimental approach but the KT0 differs significantly from the experimental determination carried out more than 40 years ago by Wang and Simmons (1972) by the pulse echo overlap method. Our new results were used to redetermine the FeAl2O4(hercynite) = FeO(wüstite) + Al2O3(corundum) equilibrium in P–T space and obtain geobarometric information for Cr-Al spinels found as inclusions in diamond.

CaMnO3 is a parent compound for various manganite systems exhibiting useful physical properties. Therefore, its structural and elastic properties are of general interest. In this paper, P–V equation of state of stoichiometric CaMnO3 is determined using energy dispersive X-ray diffraction. The measurements were carried out at a synchrotron beamline F2.1 (Hasylab, DESY) with samples compressed in a cubic-anvil diffraction press, MAX80, for pressures ranging up to 4.84 GPa. The experimental bulk modulus of CaMnO3, derived from the variation in the unit-cell volume with pressure by fitting the Birch–Murnaghan equation of state, is 154.4(3.3) GPa. The results are discussed on the basis of experimental and theoretical data for CaMnO3 and related compounds.

Relationships between volume plasmon excitations and mechanical properties of various materials are considered. Based on systematic evaluation of available data, correlations between the volume plasmon energy, Ep, Young's modulus, Ym, bulk modulus, Bm, shear modulus, Gm, and microhardness, Hm, are established. The resulting correlations indicate that plasmon energies potentially can be used to predict and/or determine the local mechanical properties of technologically important materials, such as metal alloys, semiconductors, and ceramics at the nanometer level.