Xenon Reacts with Iron at the Conditions of the Earth's Core

Abstract

Studies of the Earth's atmosphere have shown that more than 90% of xenon (Xe) is depleted compared with its abundance in chondritic meteorites. This long-standing missing Xe paradox has become the subject of considerable interest and several models for a Xe reservoir have been proposed. Whether the missing Xe is hiding in the Earth's core has remained a long unanswered question. The key to address this issue lies in the reactivity of Xe with iron (Fe, the main constituent of the Earth's core), which has been denied by earlier studies. Here we report on the first evidence of the chemical reaction of Xe and Fe at the conditions of the Earth's core, predicted through first-principles calculations and unbiased structure searching techniques. We find that Xe and Fe form a stable, inter-metallic compound of XeFe3, adopting a Cu3Au-type face-centered cubic structure above 183 GPa and at 4470 K. As the result of a Xe -> Fe charge transfer, Xe loses its chemical inertness by opening up the filled 5p electron shell and functioning as a 5p-like element, whilst Fe is unusually negatively charged, acting as an oxidant rather than a reductant as usual. Our work establishes that the Earth's core is a natural reservoir for Xe storage, and possibly provides the key to unlocking the missing Xe paradox.

13 pages, 4 figures

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• CALYPSO: a method for crystal structure prediction
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• Cs in high oxidation states and as a p-block element
• Stability of xenon oxides at high pressures
• Xe anions in stable Mg-Xe compounds: the mechanism of missing Xe in earth atmosphere

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