High-pressure
behaviors of ammonium perchlorate (NH4ClO4),
a widely used energetic oxidizer, have been investigated
using in situ angle-dispersive X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy
experiments up to 22.0 and 20.4 GPa, respectively. A sluggish structural
transformation is identified, which started at ∼2.4 GPa and
completed at ∼10.6 GPa. The crystal structure of high pressure
(phase II) is refined to possess a symmetry of P2.
The structural transformation is indicated by the obvious changes
in XRD patterns, Raman spectra, and discontinuities of peak positions.
Variations in lattice constants and volume of unit cell of the ambient
structure (phase I) up to ∼10.0 GPa are also presented. The
compressibility of phase I is anisotropic. The compression ratio of b axis is larger than that of a and c axes. The bulk modulus of phase I is B
0 = 24.5(4) GPa, and its first pressure derivative is B
0′ = 4.5(2). The phase transition is
reversible, as the XRD pattern transformed to the initial profile
upon release of pressure. On the basis of the Raman and XRD analysis,
the high-pressure-induced phase transition of ammonium perchlorate
is proposed to be associated with rearrangement of hydrogen-bonded
networks.