ABSTRACT
This contribution shares experience of teaching an interdisciplinary university course in crystal growth with examples ranging from geology to biology. This is an attempt to combine teaching the basics of the classical and non-classical theories of crystallization with impressive examples of crystals growing around us and in the human body, as well as demonstration of the common phenomena in the growth of minerals in nature, crystalline materials in industry and the laboratory, and biomimetic and stimulus-responsive crystals. Lectures are supported by laboratory exercises. Students can also perform an individual research project and present an oral contribution at a mini-conference. Examples of the topics considered in the course are given, and an extensive list of references to papers and web resources is provided, which may be useful to those who want to implement anything from the authors' experience.
ABSTRACT
In a wide range of P-T conditions, such fundamental characteristics as compressibility and thermoelastic properties remain unknown for most classes of organic compounds. Here we attempt to clarify this issue by the example of naphthalene as a model representative of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The elastic behavior of solid naphthalene was studied by in situ synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction up to 13 GPa and 773 K and first principles computations to 20 GPa and 773 K. Fitting of the P-V experimental data to Vinet equation of state yielded T 0 = 8.4(3) GPa and T' = 7.2 (3) at V0 = 361 Å(3), whereas the thermal expansion coefficient was found to be extremely low at P > 3 GPa (about 10(-5) K(-1)), in agreement with theoretical estimation. Such a diminishing of thermal effects with the pressure increase clearly demonstrates a specific feature of the high-pressure behavior of molecular crystals like PAHs, associated with a low energy of intermolecular interactions.
