Superatomic hydrogen: achieving effective aggregation of hydrogen atoms at pressures lower than that of metallic hydrogen

Abstract

Metal hydrogen exhibiting electron delocalization properties has been recognized as an important prospect for achieving controlled nuclear fusion, but the extreme pressure conditions required exceeding hundreds of GPa remain a daunting challenge. Here, we propose a model of superatomic hydrogen, aiming to reduce the pressure conditions required for the effective aggregation of elemental hydrogen atoms. High-precision ab initio calculations indicate that the pressure required to compress the H13 system with one central atom and 12 surrounding atoms into a superatomic state is approximately two orders of magnitude lower than that of metallic hydrogen. Atomic-level analyses reveal that in the superatomic state of compressed H13, the central H atom donates its electron, and all electrons are delocalized on the superatomic molecular orbitals, which conforms to properties of metallic hydrogen. Our discovery in principle opens up the prospect of superatomic hydrogen in areas such as nuclear fusion.

7 pages, 3 figures

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• High-Temperature Superconductivity in Cerium Superhydrides
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