U.S. Scientists Produce Metallic Hydrogen

[cubby]

U.S. scientists have, for the first time, produced metallic hydrogen. In this form it's theoretically possible to act as a room temperature highly efficient electrical conductor.

Full story:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. scientists have succeeded in squeezing hydrogen so intensely that it has turned into a metal, creating an entirely new material that might be used as a highly efficient electricity conductor at room temperatures.

The discovery, published in the journal Science on Thursday, provides the first confirmation of a theory proposed in 1935 by physicists Hillard Bell Huntington and Eugene Wigner that hydrogen, normally a gas, could occur in a metallic state if exposed to extreme pressure.

Several teams have been racing to develop metallic hydrogen, which is highly prized because of its potential as a superconductor, a material that is extremely efficient at conducting electricity.

Currently, superconductors such as those used in a magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, machines must be cooled with liquid helium to keep them at extremely low temperatures, which is costly.

“This is the holy grail of high-pressure physics,” Harvard physicist Isaac Silvera, one of the study's authors, said in a statement. “It’s the first-ever sample of metallic hydrogen on Earth, so when you’re looking at it, you’re looking at something that’s never existed before.”

David Ceperley, a physics professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign who was not involved in the research, said the discovery, if confirmed, would end a decades-long quest to see how hydrogen can become a metal, adding to the understanding of the most common element in the universe.

To achieve this feat, Silvera and post-doctoral fellow Ranga Dias squeezed a tiny hydrogen sample at more than 71.7 million pounds per square inch (32.5 million kg per 6.5 square cm), greater than the pressure at the centre of the Earth.

The scientists created this force using synthetic diamonds mounted opposite each other in a device known as a diamond anvil cell. They treated the diamonds with a special process to keep them from cracking, a problem that has foiled prior experiments.

"This is just at the point when the diamonds are about to crack," Ceperley said. "That is why it's taken so long. Silvera had new ways of shaping the diamonds and polishing them so they wouldn't break."

A key question is whether the pressurized hydrogen maintains its metallic properties at room temperature, which would make it extremely useful as a superconductor.

Both Ceperley and Silvera believe this will be the case, but it still needs to be proven.

If this can be repeated, and the material holds up under room temperature, what devices would be affected or created.

[Gamdwelf]

How would it hold up under room temperature conditions?

[Deleted]

What's science?

- Donald J. Trump

[Noradin]

Weren't these properties of hydrogen known for years? I seem to remember seeing proof of this more than a decade ago at least.*
It's not a surprise in any way either, hydrogen has always been predicted to have metallic properties just from its placement on the periodic table.

Edit: *Not prove of all metallic properties, but of being shinging and lustreous (I cannot seem to remember the English word for "Metallischer Glanz").

[Independent voter]

Possible superconductor, cool.

[Afrospinach]

How would it hold up under room temperature conditions?

They don't know exactly, but it is predicted to be quite stable and superconducting. Interestingly they do not actually know if it is liquid or not.

[Azadina]

What's science?

- Donald J. Trump

Chinese hoax to hurt US economy

[Puremallace]

Well think about it like this. It is a metal that does not heat up when you pass electricity through it is what I saw. That has some very serious uses...cell phones?? computer chips???

[cubby]

Weren't these properties of hydrogen known for years? I seem to remember seeing proof of this more than a decade ago at least.*
It's not a surprise in any way either, hydrogen has always been predicted to have metallic properties just from its placement on the periodic table.

Edit: *Not prove of all metallic properties, but of being shinging and lustreous (I cannot seem to remember the English word for "Metallischer Glanz").

The theory at least goes back to 1935 - but they just now, in this test, figured out how to prevent the diamonds from cracking when they were applying pressure to it (71+MM ppi - zowie!).

[Garnier Fructis]

Weren't these properties of hydrogen known for years? I seem to remember seeing proof of this more than a decade ago at least.*
It's not a surprise in any way either, hydrogen has always been predicted to have metallic properties just from its placement on the periodic table.

Edit: *Not prove of all metallic properties, but of being shinging and lustreous (I cannot seem to remember the English word for "Metallischer Glanz").

This is newsworthy because they have evidence that the theory was right. Even the most beautiful theory goes in the trash bin if reality disagrees, so experimental confirmations are always good.

[TotemJoker]

Quantum computers have a problem with heat no?
Would this help that technology move along more?

[Puremallace]

Quantum computers have a problem with heat no?
Would this help that technology move along more?

That cell phone in your pocket gets up to obscene temperatures that kill the battery life. Could see a day with some type of battery applications.

[Nadiru]

Ah, but when they took the pressure off, did it revert back to hydrogen gas? Because metallic hydrogen is supposedly meta-stable once it reaches its metallic stage.

[Garnier Fructis]

Ah, but when they took the pressure off, did it revert back to hydrogen gas? Because metallic hydrogen is supposedly meta-stable once it reaches its metallic stage.

That's the next thing they're going to test from the looks of it. Let's all hope it works.

[Docturphil]

Well think about it like this. It is a metal that does not heat up when you pass electricity through it is what I saw. That has some very serious uses...cell phones?? computer chips???

Computer chips need resistance (semi-conductors) in order to function. Superconductors, by definition, have zero or very near zero resistance. So I don't believe that would really help much there.

[May90]

I don't know the details well, but from what I've read, the vast majority of scientists are very skeptical about the claimed result and point out that the publication didn't satisfy the requirements of the scientific method. If they indeed managed to produce it, it can be big, definitely a result of the year!

[PC2]

Weren't these properties of hydrogen known for years?

In Saturn and Jupiter. Apparently testing it here will help them figure out how much it contributes to magnetic fields.

[Cosmic Janitor]

Wait what? They pressed it so densely that it formed a metal like binding? And highly conductive as well? How does that even work with but one electron. With the way conductors are usually described by "free electrons" i have to wonder how they want to keep that binding in tact and put a decent current through, especially at room temperature. I guess we'd have to see if they can actually replicate it, but I wouldn't hold my breath yet for a room temperature super conductor, let alone mass produce it... Certainly fascinating though.

Edit: Lol also that comment section, especially the guy that claimed your fridge would only need one charge with a super conductor and run forever..

[Surfd]

so, that is awesome and all, but I kind of imagine that there would be an insanely significant problem to overcome in regards to commercial applications. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but from my limited understanding of physics and chemistry, wouldn't something like that almost immediately revert back to being a gas when not under pressure? Or does it actually chemically bond in some way that causes it to permanently remain a liquid even after the pressure is removed?

Going to be rather difficult to use in commercial applications if you have to keep it under millions of pounds of pressure in order for it to stay a liquid.

[belfpala]

Wait what? They pressed it so densely that it formed a metal like binding? And highly conductive as well? How does that even work with but one electron. With the way conductors are usually described by "free electrons" i have to wonder how they want to keep that binding in tact and put a decent current through, especially at room temperature. I guess we'd have to see if they can actually replicate it, but I wouldn't hold my breath yet for a room temperature super conductor, let alone mass produce it... Certainly fascinating though.

Edit: Lol also that comment section, especially the guy that claimed your fridge would only need one charge with a super conductor and run forever..

Conductors share their electrons. Just need mobile electrons (as in metals).