High-Pressure Phase Diagrams of Na2CO3 and K2CO3

The phase diagrams of Na2CO3 and K2CO3 have been determined with multianvil (MA) and diamond anvil cell (DAC) techniques. In MA experiments with heating, gamma-Na2CO3 is stable up to 12 GPa and above this pressure transforms to P6(3)/mcm-phase. At 26 GPa, Na2CO3-P6(3)/mcm transforms to the new phase with a diffraction pattern similar to that of the theoretically predicted Na2CO3-P21/m. On cold compression in DAC experiments, gamma-Na2CO3 is stable up to the maximum pressure reached of 25 GPa. K2CO3 shows a more complex sequence of phase transitions. Unlike gamma-Na2CO3, gamma-K2CO3 has a narrow stability field. At 3 GPa, K2CO3 presents in the form of the new phase, called K2CO3-III, which transforms into another new phase, K2CO3-IV, above 9 GPa. In the pressure range of 9-15 GPa, another new phase or the mixture of phases III and IV is observed. The diffraction pattern of K2CO3-IV has similarities with that of the theoretically predicted K2CO3-P2(1)/m and most of the diffraction peaks can be indexed with this structure. Water has a dramatic effect on the phase transitions of K2CO3. Reconstruction of the diffraction pattern of gamma-K2CO3 is observed at pressures of 0.5-3.1 GPa if the DAC is loaded on the air.