Structural anomalies in lithium carbonate

Lithium carbonate belongs to an important family of compounds, with multiple applications in material synthesis. Lithium carbonate itself is important in the manufacture of lithium ion batteries, can be used in the production of aluminium, technical glasses, and even as drug to treat mania. The carbonates are also important in the synthesis of artificial diamonds for industry, catalysing the conversion of graphite. We are interested in the high pressure properties of this material, as currently very little is understood about how they transform, and how this might alter its properties. We intend to compress the sample up to 6GPa, and look for new crystallographic structures which have been predicted from simulation.