Near-infrared spectra of H2O under high pressure and high temperature: implications for a transition from proton tunneling to hopping states.

The nature of protons in ice VII up to 368°C and 16GPa was investigated with synchrotron near-infrared spectroscopy. The absorption band of the first OH stretching overtone mode divided into doublet peaks above 5GPa at room temperature, suggesting that proton tunneling occurs at the overtone level. As the temperature increased, the doublet peaks gradually reduced to a singlet.

Peptide formation mechanism on montmorillonite under thermal conditions.

The oligomerization of amino acids is an essential process in the chemical evolution of proteins, which are precursors to life on Earth. Although some researchers have observed peptide formation on clay mineral surfaces, the mechanism of peptide bond formation on the clay mineral surface has not been clarified. In this study, the thermal behavior of glycine (Gly) adsorbed on montmorillonite was observed during heating experiments conducted at 150 °C for 336 h under dry, wet, and dry-wet conditions to clarify the mechanism.

An induction heating diamond anvil cell for high pressure and temperature micro-Raman spectroscopic measurements.

A new external heating configuration is presented for high-temperature diamond anvil cell instruments. The supporting rockers are thermally excited by induction from an externally mounted copper coil passing a 30 kHz alternating current. The inductive heating configuration therefore avoids the use of breakable wires, yet is capable of cell temperatures of 1100 K or higher.