"It was a surprise."
Altered States
Researchers at the University of Chicago claim that they have created superionic ice, a new kind of matter that might exist on planets within our solar system.
Vitali Prakapenka, co-author and University of Chicago researcher, stated in a press release that it was surprising that this phase would not appear until you are under much higher pressures than the first place it is found. Thanks to several powerful tools, we were able map the properties and characteristics of this new ice which is a new phase in matter.
Nothing Else is Important
Prakapenkas' team used a particle accelerator to fire electons through two pieces of diamond. This created unfathomable pressures up to 20 gigapascals in water. It caused the water to form a completely new structure, which was then reverted after they released it.
Prakapenka described the cube as a lattice of oxygen atoms in its corners. The lattice expands when it becomes this superionic phase. This allows the hydrogen atoms and oxygen atoms to move around, while the oxygen atoms stay in their respective positions. It's almost like a solid oxygen layer sitting in an ocean filled with floating hydrogen atoms.
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The Stuff
Prakapenka stated that the team has published a paper on the experiment in Nature. Now, they plan to investigate the state's properties and how it reacts with other materials. The team also believes that the state might be created naturally by Neptune and Uranus.
He said that this should encourage more research.
READ MORE: Scientists discover strange superionic ice in other planets [University of Chicago]
Continue reading about states of matter: More information on the New State of Matter and Its Strange
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