| 1. |
- Bykov, Maxim, et al.
(författare)
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High-pressure synthesis of ultraincompressible hard rhenium nitride pernitride Re-2(N-2)(N)(2) stable at ambient conditions
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP. - 2041-1723. ; 10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-pressure synthesis in diamond anvil cells can yield unique compounds with advanced properties, but often they are either unrecoverable at ambient conditions or produced in quantity insufficient for properties characterization. Here we report the synthesis of metallic, ultraincompressible (K-0 = 428(10) GPa), and very hard (nanoindentation hardness 36.7(8) GPa) rhenium nitride pernitride Re-2(N-2)(N)(2). Unlike known transition metals pernitrides Re-2(N-2)(N)(2) contains both pernitride N-2(4-) and discrete N3- anions, which explains its exceptional properties. Re-2(N-2)(N)(2) can be obtained via a reaction between rhenium and nitrogen in a diamond anvil cell at pressures from 40 to 90 GPa and is recoverable at ambient conditions. We develop a route to scale up its synthesis through a reaction between rhenium and ammonium azide, NH4N3, in a large-volume press at 33 GPa. Although metallic bonding is typically seen incompatible with intrinsic hardness, Re-2(N-2)(N)(2) turned to be at a threshold for superhard materials.
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| 2. |
- Ji, Cheng, et al.
(författare)
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Ultrahigh-pressure isostructural electronic transitions in hydrogen
- 2019
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Ingår i: Nature. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0028-0836 .- 1476-4687. ; 573:7775, s. 558-562
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-pressure transitions are thought to modify hydrogen molecules to a molecular metallic solid and finally to an atomic metal(1), which is predicted to have exotic physical properties and the topology of a two-component (electron and proton) superconducting superfluid condensate(2,3). Therefore, understanding such transitions remains an important objective in condensed matter physics(4,5). However, measurements of the crystal structure of solid hydrogen, which provides crucial information about the metallization of hydrogen under compression, are lacking for most high-pressure phases, owing to the considerable technical challenges involved in X-ray and neutron diffraction measurements under extreme conditions. Here we present a single-crystal X-ray diffraction study of solid hydrogen at pressures of up to 254 gigapascals that reveals the crystallographic nature of the transitions from phase I to phases III and IV. Under compression, hydrogen molecules remain in the hexagonal close-packed (hcp) crystal lattice structure, accompanied by a monotonic increase in anisotropy. In addition, the pressure-dependent decrease of the unit cell volume exhibits a slope change when entering phase IV, suggesting a second-order isostructural phase transition. Our results indicate that the precursor to the exotic two-component atomic hydrogen may consist of electronic transitions caused by a highly distorted hcp Brillouin zone and molecular-symmetry breaking.
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