First High-Pressure Exploration of the Fluorine-Nitrogen System

Nitrogen is the element can that store and release the largest quantity of chemical energy through the transformation from its single- to triple-bonded states. A single-bonded, nitrogen-only, solid would be the ideal high-energy density material because of its performance but also due to its eco-friendly nature. One pathway to achieving this is to produce a polynitrogen salt in which a polynitrogen anion is stabilized by a polynitrogen cation. While many energetic anionic nitrogen species have thus far been discovered, options are severely lacking for polynitrogen cations. The aim of this proposal is to investigate the fluorine-nitrogen system up to 130 GPa in laser-heated diamond anvil cells and observe the formation of the first pressure-formed polynitrogen cation. Based on successful preliminary experiments, CoF3 will be used as the fluorine reservoir. All samples will be characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD).