In the periodic table of elements there is one golden rule for carbon, oxygen and other light elements: Under high pressures, they have similar structures to heavier elements in the same group of elements. But nitrogen always seemed unwilling to toe the line. However, high-pressure chemistry researchers of the University of Bayreuth have disproved this special status. Out of nitrogen, they created a crystalline structure which, under normal conditions, occurs in black phosphorus and arsenic. The structure contains two-dimensional atomic layers, and is therefore of great interest for high-tech electronics. The scientists have presented this "black nitrogen" in Physical Review Letters.
[...] Elements with similar properties are placed one below the other in the same column, and thus form a group of elements. [...] In earlier high-pressure experiments, nitrogen showed no structures similar to those exhibited under normal conditions by the heavier elements of this group—specifically, phosphorus, arsenic and antimony. Instead, such similarities are observed at high pressures in the neighboring groups headed by carbon and oxygen.
In fact, nitrogen is no exception to the rule. [...] At very high pressures and temperatures, nitrogen atoms form a crystalline structure that is characteristic of black phosphorus, which is a particular variant of phosphorus. The structure also occurs in arsenic and antimony. It is composed of two-dimensional layers in which nitrogen atoms are cross-linked in a uniform zigzag pattern.
[...] It took truly extreme conditions to produce black nitrogen. The compression pressure was 1.4 million times the pressure of the Earth's atmosphere, and the temperature exceeded 4,000 degrees
More information: Dominique Laniel et al, High-Pressure Polymeric Nitrogen Allotrope with the Black Phosphorus Structure, Physical Review Letters (2020). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.216001
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 04 2020, @04:30PM (2 children)
That was one of the worst movies I ever saw.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday June 04 2020, @05:15PM (1 child)
Was it due to the unbelievable plot or just the unobtanium.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday June 04 2020, @09:25PM
The unobtainium is but one element of the unbelievable plot. So I would have to pick unbelievable plot.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.