High-pressure powder diffraction studies of organic ionic plastic crystals

We wish to probe the effect of pressure on the crystal structures of organic ionic plastic crystals (OIPCs). These are a class of materials used as solid electrolytes in batteries, fuel & solar cells. These materials have a rich landscape of temperature-driven solid-solid phase transitions. One of the many advantages of OIPCs is the ability to tailor their properties by modifications to the cation and/or anion. We now wish to understand the behaviour of these materials under pressure to uncover the influence of the component ions on the phase behaviour. Understanding the effect of pressure is particularly important for achieving the first use of OIPCs as barocaloric materials for refrigeration which requires phase changes at low pressures. We seek to use PEARL to collect high-pressure neutron diffraction data on OIPCs to understand their phase behaviour.