Polymerization of nitrogen in cesium azide under modest pressure
- Institute of Condensed Matter Physics, Linyi University, Linyi 276005 (China)
- State Key Laboratory of Superhard Materials, College of Physics, Jilin University, Changchun 130012 (China)
- Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084 (China)
Alkali metal azides can be used as starting materials in the synthesis of polymeric nitrogen, a potential high-energy-density material. The structural evolutionary behaviors of nitrogen in CsN{sub 3} have been studied up to 200 GPa using particle swarm optimization structure search combining with density functional theory. Three stable new phases with C2/m, P2{sub 1}/m, and P-1 structure at pressure of 6, 13, and 51 GPa are identified for the first time. The phase transition to chain like structure (P-1 phase) occurs at a modest pressure 51 GPa, the azide ions N{sub 3}{sup −} (linear chains of three N atoms with covalent bonds and interact weakly with each other) begin to show remarkable polymeric N properties in the CsN{sub 3} system. Throughout the stable pressure range, the structure is metallic and consists of N atoms in sp{sup 2} hybridizations. Our study completes the structural evolution of CsN{sub 3} under pressure and reveals that the introduced Cs atoms are responsible for the decreased synthesis pressure comparing to pure molecular nitrogen under compression.
- OSTI ID:
- 22419963
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Chemical Physics, Vol. 141, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-9606
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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