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Methanol–ethanol mixtures as pressure-transmitting mediums
What is it about?
To perform experiments at high pressure, a sample must be surrounded by a pressure transmitting medium (PTM), a substance that ensures pressure is applied evenly in all directions. Despite their importance, PTMs remain underexplored, largely because studying them experimentally is complex and time-consuming. In this work, we re-examine the widely used 4:1 methanol–ethanol mixture as a pressure-transmitting medium. Our findings show that a 9:1 mixture provides modest but measurable improvements in hydrostatic performance. Beyond refining the current industry-standard liquid medium, this study also demonstrates the sub-GPa sensitivity of our new molecular dynamics approach for predicting hydrostatic limits. This paves the way for the design of improved pressure transmitting media with greatly reduced experimental effort.
Why is it important?
Understanding how materials behave under pressure can reveal new and exotic states of matter, improve drug storage and stability, and enhance our understanding of geophysical and astronomical processes.