A novel form of matter known as “superionic” ice that is extremely hot has been discovered.
By subjecting a droplet of water to extreme temperatures similar to those found in stars, using a powerful laser, and squeezing it between two diamonds, was found water on another stage named, superionic. The “weird black” water abides under equal pressures and temperature levels as those at the center of Earth. This discovery could potentially aid researchers in uncovering the enigmatic properties of the cores of other celestial bodies. Scientists used shock waves to produce the unusual ice, lasting only for a period of 20 nanoseconds before breaking down. However, in this latest experiment, researchers have succeeded in generating stable superionic ice that can be thoroughly investigated.
“It was a surprise– everyone thought this phase would not appear until you are at much greater pressure than where we first find it,” stated Vitali Prakapenka, a geophysicist.
We have water in three states (liquid, gaseous and solid). Its molecules can form different arrangements that represent alternative phases. Scientists found more than 19 stages of frozen water. Hydrogen and oxygen atoms can link at different temperatures and pressures.
Was reported that ice VI and VII follow the form of rectangular prisms and cubes. As their molecules organize themselves in a specific manner. Ice XI, changes direction when placed in an electric field, while ice XIX has a brittle structure, with only its hydrogen atoms forming a consistent pattern.
Superionic ice, which is subjected to high pressure and temperatures, is the 18th variant identified as the most unusual form. That is because its oxygen atoms secure into place as they could in a solid. Its hydrogen atoms, giving up their electrons, turn ions-atomic nuclei removed of their electrons and, as a result, positively charged- that is free to flow by the ice as if they were fluid.
“Imagine a cube, a lattice with oxygen atoms at the corners connected by hydrogen,” Prakapenka stated. “When it transforms into this brand-new superionic stage, the lattice expands, enabling the hydrogen atoms to move around while the oxygen atoms remain steady in their positions. It is like a solid oxygen lattice in a sea of floating hydrogen atoms.”
The presence of mobile hydrogen atoms within the ice causes it to absorb and scatter light in an irregular manner, resulting in its opaque, black appearance.
According to a report by Live Science, Professor Pierfranco Demontis first proposed the idea of superionic ice in 1988. In 2018, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Lab in California discovered the first evidence of this type of ice. Was measured the ice’s electrical conductivity and briefly observed its structure before it melted away after a few nanoseconds.
They needed to produce the ice in a more stable state. They compressed their water droplet using a diamond anvil weighing 0.2 carats and subjected it to a laser beam. The droplet was subjected to pressure, equivalent to 3.5 million times that of Earth’s atmosphere, by using the diamonds’ hardness in the frost. Additionally, the laser was used to heat the droplet to temperatures exceeding those of the sun’s surface. They were able to determine the structure of superionic ice by analyzing the intensities and angles of the X-rays that were scattered by the atoms in the ice. What increased their time in the microsecond (millionth of a second) range to see their ice than the shock-wave experiment.
Through additional research on superionic ice, there is an understanding of its characteristics and the conditions it forms naturally. It´s speculated it exists in planets like Uranus, and Neptune or even in the frozen seas of Jupiter’s moon Europa.
If so, superionic ice is central to safeguarding planets (beyond our solar system) against dangerous solar radiation and cosmic rays. Superionic ice conducts electricity, has viscosity, and has chemical stability.
Originally published on Live Science.
