In the intense conditions of giant planets, water becomes a bizarre, electrically conductive solid buried deep within.
Superionic water appears only under some of the most extreme conditions in nature, with temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and pressures of millions of atmospheres. In this state, oxygen atoms form a solid lattice while hydrogen ions flow freely through it.
The Importance of Superionic Water in Giant Planets
Because this form of water conducts electricity so effectively, scientists associate it with the unusual magnetic fields seen around ice giants. Uranus and Neptune likely hold vast deep water, making superionic water possibly the solar system’s most common form.
A Persistent Puzzle in Atomic Structure
Scientists have previously produced superionic water in the lab, but its internal structure remained unclear. Earlier research suggested that the oxygen atoms could arrange into one of two cubic configurations: a body-centered cubic structure, with an atom at the center of each cube, or a face-centered cubic structure, with atoms situated on the cube’s faces.
Recent Experiments Uncover a More Complex Structure
Recent studies reveal a far more intricate structure. Superionic water blends face-centered cubic regions with hexagonal layers of tightly packed atoms. Overlapping arrangements create a disordered oxygen lattice detectable only by precise X-ray lasers.
Simulating Planetary Environments in the Lab
Researchers revealed these details through two experiments: one at LCLS’s MEC instrument in the US and another at European XFEL’s HED-HIBEF instrument. These facilities let scientists compress water to over 1.5 million atmospheres, heat it to thousands of degrees, and capture atomic snapshots in trillionths of a second.
What This Finding Teaches Us About Water and Giant Planets
The results closely align with advanced computer simulations, showing that superionic water can take on multiple structural forms. This is similar to ordinary ice, which exists in various crystal structures depending on temperature and pressure. The study demonstrates that, despite its simplicity, water exhibits complex and surprising behaviors under extreme conditions. Overlapping arrangements create a disordered oxygen lattice detectable only by precise X-ray lasers.
The research was supported by a joint initiative from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the French ANR funding agency, with contributions from over 60 scientists across Europe and the US.
Read the original article on: SciTechDaily
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