In order to examine the potential of wing shock waves for Promoting chemical changes in organic contaminants dispersed in geologic media, as a prelude to the development of a novel in-situ remediation technology, laboratory experiments were carried out on synthetic soil matrices containing controlled amounts of chemical impurities. Samples were subjected to peak stresses in the gigapascal range in the Shock Dynamics Center's specially designed gas gun facilities, and recovered. Chemical analyses of the recovered shocked samples through various spectroscopic techniques showed significant amounts of chemical conversion. More specifically, in research investigations spread over a 12 month period, six organic compounds. including some examples of typical soil contaminants (acrylamide (AA), benzonitrile (BN), diphenylacetylene (DPA), nitrobenzene (NB). pbenylacetylene (PA), and tetrachloroethylene (TCE)) were studied. These compounds were individually dispersed in Ottawa sand at an upper-limit concentration of 10 wt. % and subjected to shock pulses of approximately 10 GPa in amplitude and 2-3 microsecs in time duration. The shock treated samples were recovered and analyzed. It was concluded that under the chosen shock conditions, AA, TCE, and PA underwent shock-induced polymerization while NB underwent decomposition. In addition, based on the intermediates and products formed, it was possible to formulate mechanistic pathways leading to their formation. It was also concluded that, in the case of BN and DPA, more research was needed in order to bring about any measurable chemical conversion.

Chemistry at Extreme Conditions covers those chemical processes that occur in the pressure regime of 0.5–200 GPa and temperature range of 500–5000 K and includes such varied phenomena as comet collisions, synthesis of super-hard materials, detonation and combustion of energetic materials, and organic conversions in the interior of planets. The book provides an insight into this active and exciting field of research. Written by top researchers in the field, the book covers state of the art experimental advances in high-pressure technology, from shock physics to laser-heating techniques to study the nature of the chemical bond in transient processes. The chapters have been conventionally organised into four broad themes of applications: biological and bioinorganic systems; Experimental works on the transformations in small molecular systems; Theoretical methods and computational modeling of shock-compressed materials; and experimental and computational approaches in energetic materials research.* Extremely practical book containing up-to-date research in high-pressure science * Includes chapters on recent advances in computer modelling* Review articles can be used as reference guide

The combined 'extreme' environments of high pressure, temperature, and strain rates, encountered under shock loading, offer enormous potential for the discovery of new paradigms in chemical reactivity not possible under more benign conditions. All organic materials are expected to react under these conditions, yet we currently understand very little about the first bond-breaking steps behind the shock front, such as in the shock initiation of explosives, or shock-induced reactivity of other relevant materials. Here, I will present recent experimental results of shock-induced chemistry in a variety of organic materials under sustained shock conditions. A comparison between the reactivity of different structures is given, and a perspective on the kinetics of reaction completion under shock drives.