Alexandra Navrotsky

Biography:

University of Chicago Chicago, IL Chemistry B.S. 1963 M.S. 1964 PhD 1967

Research and Professional Experience

2023 – present Arizona State University, Regents Professor

2019 – present Arizona State University, Director, Center for Materials of the Universe and Professor, School of Molecular Sciences and School for Engineering of Matter, Transport and Energy

1997-2019 University of California, Davis, Distinguished Interdisciplinary Professor of Ceramic, Earth, and Environmental Materials Chemistry and Edward Roessler Chair in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Director Peter A Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory and the NEAT ORU

1985-1997 Princeton University, Albert G. Blanke Jr. Professor in the Department of Geological and Geophysical Sciences, Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Chemistry

1969-1985 Arizona State University, Professor, Departments of Chemistry and Geology, and Director of the Center for Solid State Science

1968-1969 Penn State University, Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Mineralogy and Geochemistry

1967-1968 Technische Universität Clausthal, Germany, Postdoctoral Associate, Institut fur Theoretische

Title: Thermodynamics and Kinetics of Pressing Matter
Abstract: Whereas increasing temperature increases the entropy of a phase, increasing pressure decreases its volume. A phase transition at high pressure can occur when the negative pressure-volume term overcomes the initially positive free energy of transformation. This presentation presents the systematics of enthalpy and entropy of high-pressure transformations in oxides and related systems, with emphasis on terms arising from order-disorder and from differences in the vibrational, magnetic, and electronic density of states. Factors affecting the ability to “quench” high pressure phases and to produce intermediates of mineralogical and technological importance upon annealing quenched phases are also discussed.