C. Lind et al., New high-pressure form of the negative thermal expansion materials zirconium molybdate and hafnium molybdate, CHEM MATER, 13(2), 2001, pp. 487-490
High-pressure X-ray diffraction experiments on cubic ZrMo2O8 have shown tha
t the material undergoes a first-order phase transition involving an 11% vo
lume decrease between 0.7 and 2.0 GPa under quasi-hydrostatic conditions. T
he transition is reversible upon decompression, but shows considerable hyst
eresis. Similar behavior was observed for cubic HfMo2O8. Under nonhydrostat
ic conditions, the cubic materials start to amorphize above 0.3 GPa and can
be converted to the monoclinic polymorphs when heated under pressure. This
is the first time that monoclinic HfMo2O8 was observed.