Pressure-induced chemistry in a nitrogen-hydrogen host–guest structure

Dylan K. Spaulding (), Gunnar Weck, Paul Loubeyre, Fréderic Datchi, Paul Dumas and Michael Hanfland
Additional contact information
Dylan K. Spaulding: CEA, DAM, DIF
Gunnar Weck: CEA, DAM, DIF
Paul Loubeyre: CEA, DAM, DIF
Fréderic Datchi: Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux, et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC), Sorbonne Universités–UPMC Université Paris 6, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD UMR 206, MNHN
Paul Dumas: SOLEIL, L'Orme des Merisiers
Michael Hanfland: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract New topochemistry in simple molecular systems can be explored at high pressure. Here we examine the binary nitrogen/hydrogen system using Raman spectroscopy, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, synchrotron infrared microspectroscopy and visual observation. We find a eutectic-type binary phase diagram with two stable high-pressure van der Waals compounds, which we identify as (N2)6(H2)7 and N2(H2)2. The former represents a new type of van der Waals host–guest compound in which hydrogen molecules are contained within channels in a nitrogen lattice. This compound shows evidence for a gradual, pressure-induced change in bonding from van der Waals to ionic interactions near 50 GPa, forming an amorphous dinitrogen network containing ionized ammonia in a room-temperature analogue of the Haber–Bosch process. Hydrazine is recovered on decompression. The nitrogen–hydrogen system demonstrates the potential for new pressure-driven chemistry in high-pressure structures and the promise of tailoring molecular interactions for materials synthesis.

Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6739 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms6739

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms6739

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().