Phosphorus doping stabilizes high-energy polymeric nitrogen at ambient pressure

Using first-principles calculations, a research group led by Prof. Wang Xianlong from the Hefei Institutes of Âé¶¹ÒùÔºical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, found that phosphorus doping is an effective way to achieve high-energy polymeric nitrogen with black-phosphorus structure (BP-N) stable at ambient pressure.
The research results were in Matter and Radiation at Extremes.
Cubic gauche nitrogen with a diamond-like structure and BP-N with a black phosphorus structure, represented by polymeric all-nitrogen materials, are a class of high-energy density materials composed entirely of N-N single bonds, but their samples synthesized under high-pressure conditions cannot be preserved under ambient pressure, which is one of the important challenges faced in this field.
In this study, researchers found that the low-pressure instability mechanism of BP-N is different from that of cg-N.
The surface instability of cg-N leads to structural instability, while the bulk of BP-N will decompose into nitrogen chains at the low-pressure range. Phosphorus atom doping can suppress the bulk decomposition of BP-N and stabilize BP-N to 0 GPa, achieving dynamical stability through N-P dipole interaction.
In addition, the researchers calculated the optimal doping concentration and detonation performance of BP-N. This research result will actively promote the ambient pressure synthesis and large-scale preparation of BP-N.
More information: Guo Chen et al, Realized stable BP-N at ambient pressure by phosphorus doping, Matter and Radiation at Extremes (2024).
Provided by Chinese Academy of Sciences