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Using computer modeling, chemists from MIPT and Skoltech (the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology) have found out
which molecules may be present in the interiors of Uranus, Neptune, and the icy satellites of the giant planets. The scientists discovered that at high pressures, which are typical for the interiors of such planets,
exotic molecular and polymeric compounds are formed. These compounds include
carbonic acid and orthocarbonic acid, the latter also known as 'Hitler's Acid'. The results of the study have been published in the journal
Scientific Reports.
"The smaller gas giants -- Uranus and Neptune -- consist largely of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. We have found that at
a pressure of several million atmospheres unexpected compounds should form in their interiors. The cores of these planets may largely consist of these exotic materials," says Head of Laboratory of Computational Materials Discovery, Professor Artem R. Oganov.
A team led by Professor Oganov developed the world's most universal and powerful
algorithm for crystal structure and compound prediction -- USPEX (Universal Structure Predictor: Evolutionary Xtallography). In recent years, scientists have used this algorithm to discover several substances that are 'forbidden' in classical chemistry and that may be stable at high pressures. These include a number of previously unknown variants of salt --
Na3Cl, NaCl3, NaCl7 and even Na3Cl2 and Na4Cl3, as well as
exotic new oxides of magnesium, silicon and aluminium which may exist in the interiors of super-Earths.
Now Gabriele Saleh (the first author of this study) from MIPT and Oganov have decided to study the chemical behaviour of the
carbon-hydrogen-oxygen system under high pressure. "This is an extremely important system because
all organic chemistry 'rests on' these three elements, and until now it had not been entirely clear how they behave under extreme pressures and temperatures. In addition, they play an
essential role in the chemistry of the giant planets," says Oganov.
