The laboratory has got a belt-type press that can works at high pressure and temperature in the 0-80 Kbar and 0-1700 ºC ranges. In the left part (Left photo), the equipment formed by a hydraulic pressure, a power supply and temperature controller (from Eurotherm) is shown; the process is fully authomatic .
There are two exchange pressure chambers (Right photo) with an internal cooling circuit. The large chamber can work up to 40 kbar of pressure and a maximum of 300 mg of sample can be obtained, while in the small chamber 80 kbar can be reached and the yield is of the order of 100 mg of sample.
In the central part, different components of a pressure cell are shown (Central photo): two teflon rings, two conic pyrophyllite pieces, a graphite furnace, an alumina cylinder sleeve, two alumina tapes and a gold cup (for temperatures < 1100 ºC). The type of furnace (graphyte or Mo) and cup (Cu, Au, Pt or Ta) to be used depend on the temperature ranges of work.
