Scientists reveal how the element’s electrons chemically bond when under pressures like those found below Earth’s crust.
Travel deep enough below the Earth’s surface or inside the center of the Sun, and matter changes on an atomic level.
The mounting pressure within stars and planets can cause metals to become nonconducting insulators. Sodium has been shown to transform from a shiny, gray-colored metal into a transparent, glass-like insulator when squeezed hard enough.
“Predicting how other elements and chemical compounds behave at very high pressures will potentially give insight into bigger-picture questions.” — Eva Zurek, professor of chemistry, , a journal of the German Chemical Society.
“What’s the interior of a star like? How are planets’ magnetic fields generated, if indeed any exist? And how do stars and planets evolve? This type of research moves us closer to answering these questions,” Zurek continued.
Challenging Established Theories
The study confirms and builds upon the theoretical predictions of the late renowned physicist Neil Ashcroft, whose memory the study is dedicated to.
It was once thought that materials always become metallic under high pressure — like the metallic hydrogen theorized to make up DOI: 10.1002/anie.202310802
Other contributors include Malcolm McMahon and Christian Storm from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy and Center for Science at Extreme Conditions.
The work was supported by the Center for Matter at Atomic Pressure, a National Science Foundation center led by the University of Rochester that studies how pressure inside stars and planets can rearrange materials’ atomic structure.