The Experimental Physical Chemistry Program of the Chemistry Division funds this Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER). Professor Eric Chronister of the University of California, Riverside and his graduate students will address design issues relevant to optimizing the response time and maximum load of a dynamic diamond anvil cell (DAC). The goal of this work is to develop a cell with unique capabilities for initiating fast (microsecond timescales) and reversible high-pressure (~30 kbar) changes and rapid pressure cycling. The performance of the dynamic DAC will be characterized using the pressure dependence of the emission lines of ruby doped into a polymer. Spatially patterned polymer samples will allow determination of both the temporal and spatial characteristics of the pressure changes. Applications for the proposed dynamic DAC include dynamic pressure jump studies of polymers and glasses, pressure-jump studies of protein folding, and kinetic studies of pressure-induced polymorphic phase transitions. Pressure-jump studies of protein folding and unfolding on microsecond timescales under physiological conditions would provide a useful alternative to temperature-jump experiments. The ability to study pressure cycling at high repetition rates also would offer a unique approach to accelerating and studying aging processes in materials.
