Effect of hydrogen source on the synthesis of superconductive yttrium hydrides

The hydrogen-rich compounds under pressure have recently gained much attention as potential room-temperature superconductors. Here we propose to investigate the crystal chemistry of the reaction products in Y–NH3BH3 and Y–paraffin oil systems at pressures up to 210 GPa by single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) at ID11 beamline. This study will shed light on the diverse high pressure chemistry of these systems and allow the determination of the exact structures of potentially superconducting compounds, as well as any other compounds that may be formed during synthesis. The main objectives of this proposal are to i) synthesize novel yttrium compounds in laser-heated diamond anvil cells (LHDACs), ii) determine their crystal structure in-situ by employing synchrotron SCXRD, iii) establish the produced compounds’ equation of state, find out their stability range.