Good news about the laboratory preparation of metallic hydrogen

French scientists report their success in preparing metallic hydrogen in the laboratory

 Scientists have believed since ancient times that concrete laws of physics are undergoing some drastic changes in the heart of the gas giants. Under such conditions of high pressure, the hydrogen gas is compressed to the point where it turns into a metal. For years, scientists have been searching for a way to artificially produce metallic hydrogen, due to its limitless practical applications.

Scientists are currently using a device known as a diamond anvil to produce enough pressure to convert hydrogen to its solid-state, and after several decades of trying - and nearly 80 years since the theory was believed - a French team of scientists believes it has succeeded in preparing metallic hydrogen in the laboratory.

Although there are many doubts about the results of the experiment, many people in the scientific community believe that this latest claim may be true.

The team described the experiment with a study published under the title: (Observing the first stage of metallic hydrogen transformation at a pressure of 425 GPa), and you can get it from here

The team includes Paul Damas, Paul Lubert, and Florent Uchili, researchers in the military applications sector of the French Alternative Energy and Atomic Energy Agency, and they also work for the French Synchrotron (Synchrotron Accelerator) unit for research (SOLEIL).

As they make clear in their studies; Metallic hydrogen exists indisputably according to quantitative restriction rules. This means that if the movement of electrons is limited, they will converge and the gaps between them will narrow. So materials insulating for electrical conduction (such as oxygen gas) may become conductive if they are compressed enough to converge the electrons.

The team explained how two features made their experiment possible. The first is by using the diamond anvil to produce enough pressure to obtain metallic hydrogen, and the anvil consists of round diamond protrusions with a hole in the middle instead of a flat design, and this has enabled the scientists to raise the pressure produced by the usual diamond cell from (400 GPa) to (600 GPa).

The second feature included measuring and testing the sample through an infrared spectrometer developed by the same team with the SOLEIL unit, and the team observed that the sample absorbed all infrared radiation upon the arrival of pressure on the hydrogen sample (425 GPa) at a temperature (minus 193 degrees Celsius), indicating that The affinity of the atoms and the transformation of the sample into a metallic solid-state.

The results of the experiment have received many criticism and doubts about their validity, as all previous attempts that claimed to prepare metallic hydrogen have been proven unsuccessful and untrue, and that study is still subject to review by specialists.

But many scientists support the team and the experiment, such as Madurai Somayazulu, professor at Argonne National Laboratory, who said about the study: “I think it is a discovery worthy of the Nobel Prize, as this experiment is considered one of the most accurate and comprehensive experiments on hydrogen.” Somayazulu also explained the extent of his knowledge of Team Leader Dumas, his keenness, and his scientific methodology. 

One of the specialists who has also praised the experiment is Alexander Goncharov, a scientist in the Geophysics Laboratory at the Carnegie Institution for Science, who was skeptical of the 2017 experiment by a Harvard research team who claimed to prepare metallic hydrogen similarly.

Goncharov said of this experiment: "I think that this study contains strong evidence of the affinity between hydrogen atoms. Some of the readings are incorrect, and some data could have been better, but I trust the validity of this experiment in general."

There are many uses and life applications of metallic hydrogen, the first of which is that it is characterized by superior electrical conductivity, and it is stable, as it maintains its solid-state even after the removal of the pressure that causes it to convert to that state, and these properties make it very useful to keep pace with the current revolution in the field of electronics.

Metallic hydrogen will also help in high-energy physics research, such as the one currently being conducted at CERN. In addition to all of this, astrophysicists will be able for the first time to study the interior of the gas giants, without the need to send probes and spacecraft to them.

In the end, the preparation of metallic hydrogen is difficult, and anyone who claims to prepare it successfully will face many difficult questions to be able to validate their experiment. Therefore, all we can do now is to hope that this experiment is correct or to wait for the other continuous attempts.