Created by hydrogen with a metal, “the holy grail of the physics of high pressure” – The Times

Scientists at Harvard University in Cambridge (Usa) managed to create the most unusual and potentially one of the most valuable on the planet: hydrogen-metal atomic. It was created by the professor of Natural Sciences Isaac Silvera and the postdoctoral researcher Ranga Dias.

For more than a century, scientists —general level— have dreamed of converting the element lightest of all, hydrogen in a metal.

In 1935, physicists Eugene Wigner and Hillard Bell Huntington predicted that under an immense pressure, hydrogen atoms would display metallic properties. Since then, the hydrogen metal has been described as "the holy grail of the physics of high pressure".

In the course of their study, the scientists Silvera and Days scratched out lines crushed them a small sample of hydrogen to a higher pressure to the center of the Earth: 495 gigapascales, or more of 71.7 million pounds per square inch.

Silvera explains that at these extreme pressures, hydrogen is a molecular solid that consists of molecules in sites networks of the solid— decomposes, and the molecules strongly bound dissociated to become atomic hydrogen, which is a metal.

The research, published in the journal Science, offers an important new window into the understanding of the general characteristics of the hydrogen, and provides suggestions tempting towards new materials that are potentially revolutionary.

"this Is the first sample of hydrogen metal on the planet; therefore, by looking at it is looking at something that has never existed before," says Silvera.

The small piece of metal can only be seen through two diamonds that are used for subjecting the liquid hydrogen to a temperature well below freezing and the pressure is really high.

The question that arises now is whether this hydrogen pressure could get to maintain their metallic properties at room temperature, something that would give some very interesting uses as a superconductor. The authors of this discovery believe that yes, but it still needs to be tested and to verify its effectiveness.

Utility

If the hydrogen-metal atomic could act as a superconductor at room temperature, that would be revolutionary as it would have a wide range of applications

Currently, 15 percent of energy is lost by dissipation during the transmission, but “if we can make cables of this material and to use them in the electrical network, it would be possible to change that history,” says Silvera.

In turn, Dias argues that a superconductor at room temperature could completely change the transportation system, making it possible for the magnetic levitation of high-speed trains, in addition to increasing the efficiency of electric cars and improve the performance of many electronic devices. The hydrogen metal would also help to significantly improve the production and storage of energy.

in Addition to transform life on Earth, the material could play an essential role in the exploration of space and to “revolutionize the space engineering” to become the propellant of rockets, “most potent known to man,” says Silvera, adding that it would “explore the outer planets”.

To confirm the discovery, a group of physicists will perform additional tests.