Novel pressure‐induced phase transformations in hydrous layered materials

High‐pressure Raman and X‐ray diffraction data on single crystals of hydrous layer‐structure minerals, dickite and gibbsite, reveal structural phase transitions occurring between 2.0 and 2.5 GPa. In the case of dickite, this is the first documented occurrence of a pressure‐induced phase transformation in a 1:1 phyllosilicate. Above the transition the structure of individual 1:1 layers remains unchanged, whereas the stacking of individual layers and the interlayer topology change significantly. Similar to dickite, single‐crystal Raman spectra of gibbsite show large perturbations in the v(OH) region and suggest that the interlayer OH groups play a critical role in the phase transformation.