Created for the first time hydrogen metal – Channel 44, The Channel of the News

Several years after the formulation of the hypothesis about the existence of hydrogen metal, scientists of Harvard University have managed to create it. The hydrogen metal has amazing properties that make it one of the most precious materials of the Earth.

The hydrogen in metal has been created by Thomas D. Cabot, Isaac Silvera and Ranga Dias. In addition to helping scientists understand fundamental questions about the nature of the subject matter, this material has surprising qualities that include superconductivity at room temperature. The work has been published in the journal Science.

this Is the Holy Grail of the physics of high pressure, according to Silvera. It is the first example of hydrogen metal on the Earth and when you look, you see something that until now did not exist, he adds.

To create this hydrogen metallic, Silvera and Days have zipped a sample of hydrogen at a pressure of 495 gigapascales, which is equivalent to around 35 thousand and 500 tons per square meter, higher than the pressure that exists in the center of the Earth.

Under these extreme pressures, hydrogen is a molecular solid begins to divide and the molecules dissociated are transformed in a atomic hydrogen is a metal.

These works open a new window to understand the general properties of hydrogen, but at the same time opens new avenues to the creation of revolutionary materials.

Meta-stable

One of the findings is that the hydrogen metal is meta stable. That means that, if we exclude the pressure, will continue to be metallic, similar to what happens to the diamonds that are formed under a heat and a pressure amazing. Even when the heat and pressure disappear, the diamond remains.

it Is important to determine if the hydrogen metal is stable because other hypotheses suggest that it works as a superconductor at room temperature. This would be revolutionary, according to the researchers.

For current systems, it loses about 15 percent of the energy during its journey from the plant to a terminal of consumption, so that if a cable made of hydrogen metal is used in an electrical network, could radically change the energy consumption.

The supraconductividad at room temperature is part of the ultimate goals of physics, according to Dias. Could revolutionize the transport system, to create high speed trains that use magnetic levitation and significantly improve the cars and electronic appliances.

With Information Invdes.com.mx