High-pressure powder x-ray diffraction cell for soft materials

A new high-pressure powder x-ray diffraction (HP-PXRD) cell has been developed for the characterization of soft crystalline materials under quasi-hydrostatic pressures up to 0.8 GPa. The cell facilitates HP-PXRD measurements with pressure increments of 50 bar and is compatible with automated cyclic measurement protocols. Its high resolution in the low-pressure regime renders the setup particularly suitable for soft, highly compressible materials such as metal-organic frameworks, dense coordination polymers, and molecular crystals. The performance of the cell is demonstrated using Ni(dmg)2 (dmg = dimethylglyoximate) as a benchmark, allowing direct comparison of the setup with established literature values. The modular design allows for future extensions that integrate additional analytical techniques, paving the way for new opportunities in the area of high-pressure research on soft materials.