Direct hydrogen quantification in high-pressure metal hydrides

• Published in: Matter and radiation at extremes Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 63 - 69
• Main Authors: Meier, Thomas, Laniel, Dominique, Trybel, Florian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Center for High Pressure Science and Technology Advance Research,Beijing,China%Center for Science at Extreme Conditions,University of Edinburgh,Edinburgh,United Kingdom%Department of Physics,Chemistry and Biology(IFM),Link?ping University,Link?ping,Sweden 01.01.2023; AIP Publishing LLC
• ISSN: 2468-2047; 2468-080X; 2468-080X
• DOI: 10.1063/5.0119159

High-pressure metal hydride (MH) research evolved into a thriving field within condensed matter physics following the realization of metallic compounds showing phonon mediated near room-temperature superconductivity. However, severe limitations in determining the chemical formula of the reaction products, especially with regards to their hydrogen content, impedes a deep understanding of the synthesized phases and can lead to significantly erroneous conclusions. Here, we present a way to directly access the hydrogen content of MH solids synthesized at high pressures in (laser-heated) diamond anvil cells using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. We show that this method can be used to investigate MH compounds with a wide range of hydrogen content, from MHx with x = 0.15 (CuH0.15) to x ≲ 6.4 (H6±0.4S5).