XAS studies of pressure-induced structural and electronic transformations in α-FeOOH.

Structural and electronic transformation taking place in α-FeOOH goethite have been studied by Fe K-edge x-ray absorption spectroscopy at pressures up to 50 GPa. These studies have shown the symmetrization of FeO octahedra coinciding with the Fe high to low spin transition at pressure above ~45 GPa. Our data are in excellent agreement with the results of recent single crystal XRD and Mössbauer spectroscopy studies (Xu et al 2013 Phys. Rev. Lett. 111 175501), supporting the H-bonds symmetrization in iron oxyhydroxide, resulting from the Fe high-to-low spin crossover at above 45 GPa. Our study shows an applicability of the x-ray absorption spectroscopy in a further study of the H-bonds symmetrization phenomenon.