Can Solid Metallic Hydrogen Be Created Under Certain Conditions?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the creation and properties of solid metallic hydrogen, exploring whether it can be formed under specific conditions and its potential stability at normal atmospheric pressure. Participants reference past experiments, theoretical models, and the implications of findings related to metallic hydrogen's characteristics.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that metallic hydrogen was first created in liquid form at Livermore in 1996, but the formation of solid metallic hydrogen remains uncertain.
  • One participant mentions that early calculations suggest solid hydrogen should conduct electricity at around 340 GPa, but previous attempts at Cornell University did not yield the metallic phase.
  • Recent experiments by P Loubeyre and colleagues indicate changes in the absorption spectrum of solid hydrogen at high pressures, with a notable energy gap characteristic of semiconductors observed above 300 GPa.
  • Another participant questions whether the new insights from recent studies can predict the stability of metallic hydrogen as a solid under everyday conditions.
  • Some participants express curiosity about the properties of metallic hydrogen if it were stable at 1 bar, including its potential strength and brittleness.
  • One participant references a phase diagram for hydrogen, suggesting that thermodynamic principles indicate hydrogen cannot exist as a metal at 1 bar.
  • Another participant humorously speculates about the practical uses of solid metallic hydrogen, likening it to a fuel source.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of curiosity and skepticism regarding the formation and properties of solid metallic hydrogen, with no consensus on its stability at normal atmospheric pressure or its practical applications.

Contextual Notes

Some claims rely on specific experimental conditions and theoretical models, which may not be universally accepted or applicable under different circumstances. The discussion highlights uncertainties regarding the properties and stability of metallic hydrogen.

Orion1
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Metallic Hydrogen:

Metallic hydrogen was first created - at Livermore in 1996 - in the liquid state at relatively high temperature. Whether solid metallic hydrogen can be created, however, remains unclear so far. According to early calculations, solid hydrogen should start conducting at about 340 GPa. The compression of solid hydrogen to 342 GPa at Cornell University in 1998 failed to produce the metallic phase, however. Now experiments by P Loubeyre and colleagues in France may help develop a more accurate theoretical model and identify conditions necessary for solid metallic hydrogen to form. The team used Raman spectroscopy to obtain a detailed absorption spectrum of solid hydrogen at pressures up to 320 GPa. It is found that as pressure increases from 290 GPA to 320 GPa, the sample changes its color from white through yellow and red to black. Of particular importance is the discovery at a pressure above 300 GPa of an energy gap characteristic of semiconductors. As pressure is increased to 320 GPa, the gap narrows. Extrapolation shows that at 450 GPa the gap should disappear, turning solid hydrogen to a (metallic) conductor.

Reference:
http://www.nature.com
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Haven't had a chance to read the artical yet; Orion, did they say anything about whether these new insiths help predict if metalic Hydrogen can be a stable solid under normal everyday conditions? That was one of the big unnanswered questions last time I had info.
 
METALLIC HYDROGEN HAS BEEN ACHIEVED at Livermore in a sample of fluid hydrogen. William Nellis at Livermore was somewhat surprised when he succeeded at lesser pressures with fluid hydrogen. He used a gas gun to compress samples of liquid H2 and D2. Able to make direct electrical measurements on his 1- inch-wide sample (unlike the anvil experiments---with their micron- sized samples---which can only use indirect optical probes), he observed that the sample's resistivity fell with increasing pressure, leveling off at a low value (comparable to that of the fluid alkali metals Cs and Rb under similar conditions) at pressures above 1.4 Mbar, about a million times Earth's atmospheric pressure.

Reference:
http://www.aip.org/enews/physnews/1996/split/pnu263-1.htm
http://www.llnl.gov/str/Nellis.html


Metallic Hydrogen is currently only stable under pressure.
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this has been round for years. but does anyone acually know what'll be like if it was stable at 1 bar?

light and strong? light and weak? brittle? soft?
 
Metal Metallica...



Some data pulled from the internet, indeterminate accuracy, accurate enough for some calculations.

Metallic Hydrogen Properties: (paired metal)
Electronic energy band gap: 15 eV - uncompressed insulator
Electronic energy band gap: 0.3 eV - Metal @ 4000º K and 1.4 Mega-atmospheres (Matm)
Electrical Resistivity: ~0 ohm*m - Type II Superconductor @ 4000º K and 1.4 Mega-atmospheres (Matm)
Standard Density: 2696.487 kg*m^-3 (2.696 g*cc^-1)
Metallic Density: 24268.3899 kg*m^-3 @ 4000º K (24.268 g*cc^-1)
Tensile Strength: ~40-50 kg*mm^-2 @ 4000º K
Propellant Efficiency: 5*liquid H2/O2

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Buh... o_O

can i have that in english? ^__^
 
Originally posted by Gara
Buh... o_O

can i have that in english? ^__^

I second that! I don't feel like Googling a bunch of various metals and comparing each and every property, could someone who already has that knowledge please enlighten us as to the possible practical uses for such a metal? Thx!
 
I know i have seen a phase diagram for Hydrogen. And according to the Thermodynamics Hydrogen cannot exsist as metal at 1 bar. I'll see if I can find it in my texts and journals and scan it in.
 
so urm... if it can be a solid metalic metal at 1 bar @ room temp, would it be a super light super strong material?

its proberly a dumb question but wouldn't it be basically a block of fuel, like charcoal blocks?

"Throw another block of solid metalic hydrogen on the barbeque, let's get this thing started!"
 

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