Illustration of a zirconium vanadium hydride atomic structure at near ambient conditions: The lattice is composed of vanadium atoms (in blue) and zirconium atoms (in green) enclosing hydrogen atoms (in red). Illustration: Jill Hemman / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept of Energy
Illustration of a zirconium vanadium hydride atomic structure at near ambient conditions: The lattice is composed of vanadium atoms ( in blue ) and zirconium atoms ( in green ) enclosing hydrogen atoms ( in red ). Illustration: Jill Hemman / Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept of Energy A team of researchers from Switzerland, the US and Poland have found evidence of a uniquely high density of hydrogen atoms in a metal hydride. The smaller spacings between the atoms might enable packing significantly more hydrogen into the material to a point where it could begin to superconduct at room temperature and ambient pressure. The scientists conducted neutron scattering experiments at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in the US on samples of zirconium vanadium hydride at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures as high as -23 degrees Celsius. Their findings detail the first observations of such small hydrogen-hydrogen atomic distances in a metal hydride, as small as 1.6 angstroms (less than one millionth of a millimeter), compared to the 2.1 angstrom distances predicted for these metals, as the scientists report in the latest issue of the «Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences» (PNAS). This interatomic arrangement is remarkably promising since the hydrogen contained in metals affects their electronic properties. Other materials with similar hydrogen arrangements have been found to start superconducting, but only at very high pressures.
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