Historical experiment in space exploration: Water compressed between diamonds changed shape

The question of what form water, which is considered the cornerstone of the search for life in the universe, takes in the extremely pressurized environments of extraterrestrial planets has been waiting for an answer in the scientific world for a long time. University of Nevada researchers have reproduced the extreme conditions in the inner layers of gas and ice giants located at the outer limits of the Solar System in a laboratory environment. The research results published in Communications Chemistry proved that, contrary to popular belief, the atomic structure of water under extreme pressure loses its symmetry, bends and takes on a completely different chemical character.

The research team, led by physicist Ashkan Salamat, placed a microscale water droplet between two specially designed diamond anvil tips. With the compression mechanism, the pressure on the water was increased to over 222 gigapasacals (GPa). This value corresponds to approximately 2.2 million times the atmospheric pressure felt by humans on the Earth's surface.

High-precision X-ray diffraction method was used to examine the changes of the compressed matter on the atomic scale. According to theoretical physics principles, atoms were expected to take on a more ordered and symmetrical crystal structure under extreme compression, but the opposite situation was observed in the experiment; It was determined that the molecular bonds of water were stretched and deformed asymmetrically.

The data obtained also changed the assumptions about the "Ice-X" structure, which is one of more than 20 ice phases known in the scientific literature and is formed under high pressure. Ice-X, which is known to reach perfect symmetry at a pressure of approximately 50 GPa for oxygen and hydrogen atoms, surpassed this stability limit at 222 GPa and transitioned to a completely new and complex structural regime.

Scientists say that this new form of water under extreme pressure; He states that it will directly affect the internal density, thermal conductivity capacity and magnetic field dynamics of the planets.

Stating that they verified the data obtained from space telescopes and Voyager spacecraft in the laboratory, Dr. Ashkan Salamat emphasized that the research is a critical threshold for deep space exploration. The presence of water in a different atomic form in the deep planetary layers shows that rock and metal compounds that are unique on Earth can be formed on those planets.

Astrophysicists who model the structure and potential life-hosting capacity of exoplanets outside the Solar System will reconstruct planetary simulations and data analysis parameters from space probes in the light of new findings.