Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression
Abstract Due to the sulfur’s atoms’ propensity to form molecules and/or polymeric chains of various sizes and configuration, elemental sulfur possesses more allotropes and polymorphs than any other element at ambient conditions. This variability of the starting building blocks is partially responsib...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55028-w |
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| _version_ | 1841559214985576448 |
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| author | Kaiyuan Shi Xiao Dong Zhisheng Zhao Lei Su Cheng Ji Bing Li Jiaqing Zhang Xingbang Dong Pu Qiao Xin Zhang Haotian Yang Guoqiang Yang Eugene Gregoryanz Ho-kwang Mao |
| author_facet | Kaiyuan Shi Xiao Dong Zhisheng Zhao Lei Su Cheng Ji Bing Li Jiaqing Zhang Xingbang Dong Pu Qiao Xin Zhang Haotian Yang Guoqiang Yang Eugene Gregoryanz Ho-kwang Mao |
| author_sort | Kaiyuan Shi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Due to the sulfur’s atoms’ propensity to form molecules and/or polymeric chains of various sizes and configuration, elemental sulfur possesses more allotropes and polymorphs than any other element at ambient conditions. This variability of the starting building blocks is partially responsible for its rich and fascinating phase diagram, with pressure and temperature changing the states of sulfur from insulating molecular rings and chains to semiconducting low- and high-density amorphous configurations to incommensurate superconducting metallic atomic phase. Here, using a fast compression technique, we demonstrate that the rapid pressurisation of liquid sulfur can effectively break the molecular ring structure, forming a glassy polymeric state of pure-chain molecules (Am-S P ). This solid disordered chain state appears to be (meta)stable in the P-T region usually associated with phase I made up of S8. The elemental sulfur glass, made up from one of the simplest building blocks, offers a unique prospect to study the structure and property relationships of various other phases of sulfur and their interactions. More importantly, the fast compression technique performed at any temperature effectively like thermal quenching, opening up possibilities in high pressure synthesis by providing an effective and fast way of changing the fundamental thermodynamical parameter. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-64a971920bb543ba806a7fb71be4afb5 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-64a971920bb543ba806a7fb71be4afb52025-01-05T12:39:37ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-01-011611810.1038/s41467-024-55028-wSulfur chains glass formed by fast compressionKaiyuan Shi0Xiao Dong1Zhisheng Zhao2Lei Su3Cheng Ji4Bing Li5Jiaqing Zhang6Xingbang Dong7Pu Qiao8Xin Zhang9Haotian Yang10Guoqiang Yang11Eugene Gregoryanz12Ho-kwang Mao13Key Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesSchool of Physics and MOE Key Laboratory of Weak-Light Nonlinear Photonics, Nankai UniversityCenter for High Pressure Science (CHiPS), State Key Laboratory of Metastable Materials Science and Technology, Yanshan UniversityKey Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchKey Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesKey Laboratory of Photochemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of SciencesShanghai Key Laboratory MFree, Shanghai Advanced Research in Physical Sciences, PudongCenter for High Pressure Science and Technology Advanced ResearchAbstract Due to the sulfur’s atoms’ propensity to form molecules and/or polymeric chains of various sizes and configuration, elemental sulfur possesses more allotropes and polymorphs than any other element at ambient conditions. This variability of the starting building blocks is partially responsible for its rich and fascinating phase diagram, with pressure and temperature changing the states of sulfur from insulating molecular rings and chains to semiconducting low- and high-density amorphous configurations to incommensurate superconducting metallic atomic phase. Here, using a fast compression technique, we demonstrate that the rapid pressurisation of liquid sulfur can effectively break the molecular ring structure, forming a glassy polymeric state of pure-chain molecules (Am-S P ). This solid disordered chain state appears to be (meta)stable in the P-T region usually associated with phase I made up of S8. The elemental sulfur glass, made up from one of the simplest building blocks, offers a unique prospect to study the structure and property relationships of various other phases of sulfur and their interactions. More importantly, the fast compression technique performed at any temperature effectively like thermal quenching, opening up possibilities in high pressure synthesis by providing an effective and fast way of changing the fundamental thermodynamical parameter.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55028-w |
| spellingShingle | Kaiyuan Shi Xiao Dong Zhisheng Zhao Lei Su Cheng Ji Bing Li Jiaqing Zhang Xingbang Dong Pu Qiao Xin Zhang Haotian Yang Guoqiang Yang Eugene Gregoryanz Ho-kwang Mao Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression Nature Communications |
| title | Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| title_full | Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| title_fullStr | Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| title_short | Sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| title_sort | sulfur chains glass formed by fast compression |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55028-w |
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